After the fall of communism in 1989, the United States launched several initiatives to aid Eastern Europe’s transition to democracy and market economies.

One such initiative was the creation of the Bulgarian-American Investment Fund (BAIF) in 1991 under the Bush administration. The Fund, initially seeded with $20 million in taxpayer money, quickly became a financial juggernaut, turning that modest investment into an $800 million portfolio by investing in over 5,000 businesses and various real estate ventures in a post-communist economy.

The success of the fund led to the establishment of the “America for Bulgaria” (AFB) Foundation in 2008, backed by President George W. Bush and Congress, with the goal of strengthening U.S.-Bulgarian relations.

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