It is standard practice in Western Europe and the USA for owners of multimillion and multibillion-dollar companies not to bequeath their businesses to their children, but to donate their shares or part of them to foundations for charitable activities bearing their name. The reason is often not so much a sign of philanthropy, but a strategy to avoid the heavy taxation levied on inherited shares - in France, Germany, and the UK this usually ranges between 30 and 60%.
Hundreds of corporations and families around the world operate under this scheme - from the Rockefeller Foundation to IKEA - Stichting INGKA Foundation, which manages most of the stores of the Swedish furniture giant, as well as Rolex - Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, which is the sole owner of the watch house, and Bosch - Robert Bosch Stiftung, owner of more than 90% of the shares of Bosch Group.
In Bulgaria, there is no inheritance tax for direct relatives, but that doesn't stop Blagovesta Pugyova from being inspired by the model and turning it upside down - 8 years after creating the Podari Kniga foundation to connect children deprived of parental care with volunteers, in 2018, in partnership with Andrey Nonchev, Pugyova created the AI company Childish (now Vector Labs), in which the foundation owns a 50 percent stake. The goal is for all the volunteers' activities to be able to support themselves with the profits of the business, which the foundation receives as dividends.
Today, Pugyova jokes that their holding continues to grow. "The foundation, which now bears the name Podari Vreme, is the grandmother, Vector Labs is the mother, and the child is our newest project for the maintenance of industrial equipment - Fabrico," she explains. The three organizations share a common office with teams totaling about 50 people who collaborate in some of the processes, and it is a regular practice for almost all employees to also be volunteers who donate their time to children in homes once a month.
Giving is contagious
Podari Vreme, which celebrates its fifteenth anniversary in 2025, started with a single volunteer and 8 books. "I worked as an editor in a social program and my naive idea was that I could help the world", Pugyova says. "I was only 21 years old and I thought that the only difference between me and these children was the lack of books. If I gave them some books now, they would just light up, and all their problems would be solved."
She started visiting homes that at the time did not accept guests, only donations. "I created a group on Facebook and sent messages to acquaintances telling them that we were collecting books for children without parental care and would bring them to the homes every month. They only had to bring us books to block 26 in Studentski Grad, and we would distribute them," she explains.
As they observe the children during their visits, Pugyova and her friends become convinced that what they need is not books, but time spent with adults who do not work in the orphanage that houses them. "When you set out to solve a problem, you may not have the right answer, but over time you adjust," she says.
She begins to organize the visits so that each child can get to know a volunteer and communicate with them after the meetings. "As long as there is someone to ask you what your grades are, you are automatically more motivated to do well, and if this person comes to your home every month, you feel even more stimulated not to let yourself go with the flow," Pugyova explains.
An entrepreneur who volunteers
In 2018, Pugyova invited another active volunteer at Podari Kniga, Andrey Nonchev, to create a technology company that could one day possibly help with the foundation's expenses. They created Childish, later renamed Vector Labs, which initially developed software, but is now an artificial intelligence studio and develops personalized AI models for its clients.
The foundation was the owner of 50% of Vector Labs at that time, and over the years and with the entry of more partners, the share changed, but in one way or another with participation in other companies remained more or less the same. "The goal of the structure was to give stability to the foundation and diversify income from donations - to know that we have a guaranteed long-term income and a stable income that makes us independent," Pugyova explains.
Today, the foundation still accepts donations, but is also entitled to a dividend from the company. "Hypothetically, if we talk to a large international company that is interested in buying our company, which is very trendy at the moment, the foundation gets its percentage," she adds.
The informal advantages of the structure are that all the company's assets are also used by the foundation - an office, some marketing specialists, and some company cars. "The foundation does not have this expense, because we cover it." In 2024, the company Vector Labs reported revenues topping 2 million levs, and the forecasts of its owners are for a 50 percent growth in 2025. For the first time, Podari Vreme's share of the company's distributed profit for 2024 fully covers its budget. "Our first goal has been achieved - the company can easily support the foundation, which proves to ourselves that this model can work in Bulgaria," says Pugyova.
Pugyova and her partners later created a second company - Fabrico, where Podari Vreme has an indirect share via its ownership in Vector Labs.
Give your time
While the two businesses grow, Podari Vreme continues to be driven by a network of about 500 volunteers who visit 400 children deprived of parental care every month and spend the whole day with them. Each volunteer chooses one home from the 18 cities that the foundation visits and becomes a "significant adult" for one child, whose progress he can monitor daily. The monthly program for visiting the homes is published on the website, and on the designated days all volunteers meet in front of the Bulgarian National Bank and travel together in a company bus.
The visits usually include games and useful thematic meetings, in which the volunteers show the children how they will have to distribute their expenses when they start living on their own, how to apply for a job, and more.
"The next step is that we follow their progress after they leave the homes; we want them to have a connection and if there is any problem, they turn to their volunteer," explains Pugyova, adding that often, when they turn 18 and have the right to leave home, many of the teenagers rush and find themselves without a job, accommodation and a plan of action. The foundation often helps with paying a deposit, preparing for courses, or university, and more besides.
Its main goal is for the volunteers to maintain their contact with the teenagers in the long term. "A week ago, I met with our volunteer and his now-grown child, who were discussing how he is currently looking for an option to buy a home. The same little boy from Berkovitsa, who 10 years ago was chopping wood for the neighbor's house for a few levs now works in Sofia, has had his teeth fixed, works out, and is getting a promotion which will help him buy a house with a mortgage, and he is doing all this with the guidance of his "significant adult," she says.
It is standard practice in Western Europe and the USA for owners of multimillion and multibillion-dollar companies not to bequeath their businesses to their children, but to donate their shares or part of them to foundations for charitable activities bearing their name. The reason is often not so much a sign of philanthropy, but a strategy to avoid the heavy taxation levied on inherited shares - in France, Germany, and the UK this usually ranges between 30 and 60%.
Hundreds of corporations and families around the world operate under this scheme - from the Rockefeller Foundation to IKEA - Stichting INGKA Foundation, which manages most of the stores of the Swedish furniture giant, as well as Rolex - Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, which is the sole owner of the watch house, and Bosch - Robert Bosch Stiftung, owner of more than 90% of the shares of Bosch Group.
