MARKETING
The marketing of farm products has been geared to the fixed five-year plan quotas for sales to the state. It is based on bilateral contracts between trusts in the food-processing industry and agroindustrial complexes or their constituent units. Contracts are concluded for a five-year period and are broken down by years. They cover the entire farm output specified in the counterplans at prices officially revised on January 1, 1973. The price system includes bonuses for quality; these bonuses are payable only after a specified portion of the contracted quantity has been delivered and vary in relation to the total volume of product delivered. The intent of the bonuses is to stimulate product improvement without encouraging production beyond the planned limits. Excess production would destroy the balance of the plan.
Provisions of the marketing contracts were worked out by the Ministry of Agriculture and the State Arbitration Commission with the agreement of the government departments involved. Provisions concerning the performance of contractual obligations were strengthened compared with those previously in force. They established financial incentives and sanctions not only for the contracting organizations but also for their top managers as individuals, based upon the end results of their joint work.
Each food-processing trust engaged in the procurement of farm products must establish a fund for the promotion of their production, for improving farming methods, and for modernizing the farm's physical facilities. The funds are to be used in the first place for stimulating the output of products required on the domestic market and for export.The allocation of promotional funds is to be in accord with a program worked out jointly by the trust and the agroindustrial complex; the program constitutes an integral part of the procurement contract.
Farms, individual farmers, and private agricultural producers may sell some of their products at retail directly to consumers in cooperative markets at prices not exceeding those charged by state retail stores. In some instances and for some products sale on a commission basis through state and cooperative outlets is also allowed. The sale of meat, meat products, and alcoholic beverages in cooperative markets is prohibited as is also the sale of any product through middlemen. Cooperative markets are subordinated to the trade organs of municipal authorities. Violations of applicable regulations are subject to penalties the severity of which depends upon the nature of the offenses. Information on the total volume of direct sales by agricultural producers is not available. The share of collective farms in cooperative market sales, however, declined from 53 percent in 1959 to 16 percent in 1970.
PRODUCTION
Growth and Structure
As a result of continued emphasis on the country's industrialization, the share of agriculture in national income (net material product) was only 22 percent in 1970, compared to 31 percent ten years earlier. According to official sources, however, output continued to rise. It increased at an average annual rate of 4.8 percent in the 1960-67 period, declined by 10 percent in 1968, and regained the 1967 level in 1970. An increase of 8 percent in the next two years raised the farm output in 1972 to a level 50 percent above the output level in 1960. For the entire period the average annual increase in farm output was 3.4 percent.
Livestock production was reported to have increased more rapidly than crop production in the 1960-70 period; the respective average annual rates of growth in output were 4.1 and 2.9 percent. Crop output in 1970 was 33 percent larger than output in 1960, whereas livestock output was 50 percent higher. Available data are inadequate to reconcile the reported growth in the value of livestock production with a seemingly inconsistent rise in the physical output of livestock products and changes in livestock herds.
The structure of farm output in 1970 did not differ materially from the structure in 1960. The share of crops in the total output declined from 67.3 to 64.7 percent, while the share of livestock production rose correspondingly from 32.7 to 35.3 percent. The proportions of grains and technical crops were identical in both years. The share of vegetables, potatoes, and melons declined slightly, but the proportion of feed crops dropped from 9.2 to 6.2 percent. The lag in the growth rateof feed production has contributed to the difficulties in the livestock sector.
Crops
With the exception of rye, potatoes, hemp, and cotton, output of all major crops increased substantially in the 1960s (see table 16). The production of rye declined sharply as a result of the diversion of rye acreage to the production of more valuable crops. By 1970 rye output had become insignificant—less than 1 percent of the volume of wheat produced in that year. The decline in potato production was minor, but the output of raw cotton declined by 15 percent. The largest increases were attained in the production of alfalfa and table grapes—crops that are important for livestock production and export, respectively. Barley output, important for livestock and beer production, rose by 82 percent. Wheat output surpassed 3 million tons in 1970; it reached 3.56 million tons in 1972.
Table 16. Bulgaria, Production of Major Crops, Annual Average,Selected Years, 1958-60 to 1966-70, and 1970(in thousands of tons)
CropsAverage 1958-60Average 1961-65Average 1966-701970Wheat2,3762,2082,9193,032Rye97583528Barley5426949861,167Corn (grain)1,2981,6012,1472,375Sunflower seeds281338462407Hemp (dry stem)62496255Cotton (raw)54394636Tobacco (oriental)77101109112Sugar beets1,3281,4401,8621,714Tomatoes525738716685Potatoes383400380374Alfalfa5989511,4431,719Apples265315402363Grapes7211,0061,133884(Table grapes)(135)(267)(313)(263)Source: Adapted fromStatistical Yearbook, 1971, Sofia, 1971, pp. 120-122.
Virtually all wheat grown in the country is a hard red winter wheat of good quality, somewhat softer than durum wheat. Cultivation of durum wheat has been almost completely abandoned because of its low yield. The possibility has been suggested, however, that production of durum may be resumed eventually on the basis of newly developed, more productive varieties. Durum wheat requirements for the manufacture of noodles, semolina, and other products have been imported against payment in foreign currencies.
Increases in the output and yields of crops were reported to have been achieved through the introduction of improved plant varieties and seeds, better cultivation practices, expanded irrigation, greater use of fertilizers, and more effective disease and pest control. The supply of fertilizers to agriculture, in terms of plant nutrients, increased from about 49,000 tons in 1956 to 842,000 tons in 1968 but thereafter declined sharply to only 692,000 tons in 1969 and 635,000 tons in 1971. In 1972 the fertilizer supply improved by a mere 10,000 tons. The bulk of the decline was in phosphates and potash, imports of which were drastically curtailed after 1968, presumably because of the shortage of foreign exchange.
The supply of pesticides also depends very largely upon imports. Deliveries to agriculture rose from less than 10,000 tons in 1960 to almost 12,900 tons in 1965, declined to 11,150 tons in 1969, and then surpassed the 1965 supply by 300 tons in 1971. The need for a drastic increase in the use of pesticides and fungicides is indicated by the official estimate that annual losses from crop diseases, pests, and weeds amount to from 150 to 200 million leva.
Despite the progress made, agricultural technicians continue to call attention to the persistence of faulty practices in all phases of crop production—practices that tend to lower crop yields and retard agricultural growth. Traditionally a single variety of wheat has been grown throughout the entire country, despite variations in soil and climatic conditions. Although yields generally rose with the successive introduction of better varieties, they remained low and of inferior quality in areas poorly adapted for the cultivation of a particular variety. Specialists have stressed the need for diversification of varieties, particularly under conditions of regionally defined agroindustrial complexes.
A task force for scientific and technical aid to agriculture, formed by the government at the end of 1965, uncovered the appearance and rapid dispersion of new grain diseases. Dry rot, which had assumed significant proportions in 1961, caused the most severe losses of wheat in 1970 and 1971, when 1.2 million acres were affected by the disease, mainly in the northern grain-growing part of the country. Wheat flower blight, long known in Bulgaria, became particularly widespread in 1965 after the introduction of a new wheat variety highly susceptible to that disease. Losses from this source reached about 15 to 20 percent.
Propagation of diseases has been aided by faulty cultivation practices. Excessively heavy seeding has been used increasingly to compensate for inadequate soil preparation. The resultant overly thick stands of grain are prone to lodging, which facilitates the spread of disease through greater contact of the wheatstalks. The tendency to lodging and, thus, to the spreading of disease is also encouraged by the improper use of fertilizers. To compensate for the shortage of phosphatic fertilizers an erroneous practice has developed of increasing theapplication of nitrogenous fertilizers, thereby upsetting the proper balance of plant nutrients. The resultant excessive vegetative growth weakens the grain stalks and induces lodging of the grain. Lodging also causes heavy losses through the germination of kernels and through major difficulties in harvesting.
Damage to wheat and barley crops from improper use of phosphatic fertilizers has also been reported. Substantial losses have been incurred in the production of sunflower seeds through inexpert use of fertilizers and insecticides, inadequate thinning and weeding, improper crop rotation, and poor harvesting methods. The basic underlying cause of these difficulties is the widespread lack of familiarity with modern production methods and the inadequate supply of technically trained personnel to guide farmers.
Livestock and Livestock Products
Despite repeated government decrees concerning measures for raising livestock production, including various incentives, no significant success was attained in increasing livestock herds in the period 1961 to January 1971 (see table 17). The numbers of cattle, hogs, and rabbits actually declined; the flocks of sheep grew by less than 4 percent; and only the numbers of goats and poultry increased substantially. An increase in all categories of livestock other than sheep, however, took place in 1971. In comparison with 1948 the total number of cattle in 1971 was lower by 28 percent, and the number of cows had declined by 16 percent. The poor performance of the livestock sector, particularly with regard to cattle, has been a source of great concern for the leadership because of the leadership's promise of a better standard of living for the population and the obligation to meet export commitments to COMECON partners, particularly the Soviet Union. Exports of livestock are also important as a source of convertible foreign exchange.
Table 17. Bulgaria, Livestock Numbers, Selected Years, 1948-72* (in thousands)
Livestock19481961197019711972Cattle1,7831,4521,2551,2791,379(Cows)(703)(547)(574)(589)(607)Hogs1,0782,5531,9672,3692,806Sheep9,2669,3339,2239,67810,127Goats720246350335318Rabbits128470164277350Poultry11,38023,36629,59033,70634,102* Figure for 1948 as of December 25; for all other years, January 1.Source: Adapted fromStatistical Yearbook, 1971, Sofia, 1971, p. 124; andStatistical Yearbook, 1972, Sofia, 1972, p. 236.
Although agriculture is almost entirely socialized, substantial numbers of livestock are nevertheless privately owned by farm and urban workers, artisans, and the few remaining individual farmers. In 1971 these groups possessed virtually all the goats and rabbits, more than half the poultry, and about two-fifths of the sheep. They also owned 27 percent of the hogs and 22 percent of the cattle, including 30 percent of the cows. On socialized farms all types of livestock were reduced in numbers during the 1961-70 period except for cows and poultry. Among private owners the decline in the numbers of cattle and hogs was more pronounced, but substantial gains were made in the stock of sheep, goats, and poultry. Government policies concerning prices, incentives, and feed allocation were mainly responsible for the differences in development within the socialized and private sectors.
Expansion of livestock herds and production has been hampered by an inadequate feed supply. The feed shortage in the 1966-70 period was estimated by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences to have approximated 30 percent. Domestically produced feed concentrates have been of poor quality and nutritionally unbalanced. In 1972 more than 45 percent of the mixed feeds and concentrates were substandard, and requirements for these feeds were met by less than 55 percent.
The production of feed crops increased in absolute terms during the 1960-70 period, but its rate of growth lagged by comparison with other crops and with official plans. In 1971 and 1972 the alfalfa acreage was supposed to be 990,000 acres, but only 840,000 acres were actually cropped. In 1972 only 57 percent of the requirements for alfalfa and meadow hay were met on farms of the agroindustrial complexes, and the quality of the hay was extremely low. The inadequacy of the feed supply in relation to the government's livestock program has been designated by the leadership as one of the most crucial problems of agriculture.
In the 1971-75 period improvement in the feed supply is to be achieved mainly through an increase in feed crop yields, but a certain increase in acreage has also been planned. Results in the first two years of the five-year period have jeopardized the attainment of the goal for 1975. Substantial investment funds are to be provided for the modernization of dairy barns and for the construction of feed mills with assistance from the Soviet Union. With a view to raising productivity and output, livestock production is to be increasingly concentrated on large specialized farms. This policy ignored the demonstrated superiority of livestock production on small farm plots.
Major problems in the expansion of cattle herds and livestock production are also posed by poor management and inadequate veterinary services. The reproduction rate of cattle is abnormally low because of the high percentage of old, sterile cows in the herds. The incidence of diseases of the reproductive system and of mastitis among cows is rapidly increasing, and mortality among cattle is high. Young breedingstock is reared in unsuitable surroundings, is ill fed, and consequently remains underdeveloped. A large proportion of newly born calves succumb to various diseases. There is a shortage of trained veterinarians, but veterinarians stationed on farms and in district veterinary hospitals are reported to feel no responsibility for the deplorable conditions. The care of livestock also suffers from a lack of adequately trained workers and a high labor turnover in the livestock sections of the agroindustrial complexes. Managers and specialists at the higher levels of the agroindustrial complexes fail to provide systematic supervision and guidance and often exhibit a lack of interest in the livestock enterprise. These conditions were reported to the General Assembly by a deputy minister of agriculture.
Despite the shortage of feed, increased yields per animal were attained in the 1960-71 period. For agriculture as a whole the output of milk per cow rose from 1,482 to 2,281 quarts, the number of eggs per hen increased from ninety-one to 115, and the amount of wool per sheep rose from 5.3 to 7.4 pounds. In 1972, however, yields per cow and per hen declined. In the socialized sector the decline in milk yield had begun in 1968 and reached serious proportions in 1972; the egg yield remained stable through 1970 (data for later years were not available in 1973). In the private sector the milk yield continued to rise at least until 1970; the egg yield remained stable through 1969 and rose in 1970. In the spring of 1973 several agricultural officials, including a deputy minister of agriculture, were reprimanded by the Council of Ministers Bureau for permitting the decline in yields of milk and eggs.
A study of milk production during the 1965-67 period found that farms having milk yields of 2,110 to 2,640 quarts per cow sustained an annual loss of 56 leva for each animal, whereas farms with yields of 3,170 to 4,287 quarts earned a net income of 111 leva per cow. The reported national average milk yield per cow therefore indicates that most farms produced milk at a loss.
The officially reported meat output increased by 74 percent in the 1960-68 period but declined by 11 percent in the next two years. By far the largest increase in production to 1968—2.9 times—was reported for beef and veal, while production of poultry meat and of sheep, and goat meat almost doubled (see table 18). The decline in output after 1968 affected all types of meat except for poultry and rabbits. For the entire period of 1960 through 1970, meat output rose by 55 percent, including production increases of 150 percent for beef and veal, 160 percent for poultry, and 82 percent for sheep and goat meat. Pork production, however, had risen by only 10 percent, and the output of rabbit meat declined by about one-third. The reported increase in meat production cannot be correlated with available data on changes in the size of livestock herds. An improvement in the supply of all types of meat other than beef and veal took place in 1971.
Production of milk and eggs also increased substantially during the1960-71 period (see table 19). Nevertheless, domestic market supplies of livestock products remained chronically and seriously short of demand, in part because of the magnitude of exports. Exports of agricultural raw materials and processed foods exceeded 1 billion leva in 1970; they had increased 2.7 times during the decade and were equivalent to 44 percent of agriculture's contribution to the national income. Exports of food products alone had increased more than 3.5 times during the decade to a total of 732 million leva.
Table 18. Bulgaria, Production of Meat, Selected Years, 1948-71(in thousands of tons)
Meat194819601968196919701971Beef and veal4137105949085Pork74134194167148169Sheep and goat meat454588878288Poultry1736707893111Other142234TOTAL¹⁻²178257460428416457Edible offals295073656064GRAND TOTAL²208307534493476521¹ Less offals.² Columns may not add because of rounding.Source: Adapted fromStatistical Yearbook, 1971, Sofia, 1971, p. 127; andStatistical Yearbook, 1972, Sofia, 1972, p. 232.
Table 19. Bulgaria, Production of Milk, Eggs, and Wool, Selected Years, 1960-71
YearMilk(thousand tons)Cow's Milk(thousand tons)Raw Wool(thousand tons)Eggs(million dozen)19601,1207442110219671,6091,2102714019691,5801,2052812719701,6311,2502913519711,6201,29030146Source: Adapted fromStatistical Yearbook, 1971, Sofia, 1971, p. 128; andStatistical Yearbook, 1972, Sofia, 1972, p. 233.
In mid-1973 industry continued to expand, though at a significantly lower rate than in the mid-1960s. Industrial expansion was being increasingly restrained by the inadequacy of domestic raw material and skilled labor resources. Limits on an increase in imports of materials and essential machinery were placed by the insufficiency of foreign exchange reserve and by the need to reduce traditional exports of consumer goods in short supply on the domestic market. The Soviet Union continued to be the predominant supplier of raw materials, machinery, and technical and technological assistance.
To overcome the limitations on industrial expansion, the leadership of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP—see Glossary) and government sought to raise industrial productivity through concentration and specialization of production and through improvements in the management of material and labor resources. Strong emphasis was placed on the introduction of automation in both production and management processes. Heavy stress was also laid on the need to raise the quality of industrial products in order to increase their salability abroad and their acceptance in the domestic market.
The consolidation of industrial enterprises into a limited number of trusts, introduced in 1971 as a measure for increased centralized control in the search for greater efficiency, was being carried forward by means of further regulatory and clarifying edicts. The leadership's ultimate goal of an efficiently managed, technologically advanced, low-cost industry remained the driving force behind all industrial policy decisions.
ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE
Virtually all industry is state owned. In 1970 state enterprises possessed 98.6 percent of all industrial assets; they employed 88.8 percent of the industrial work force and produced 89.7 percent of the industrial output. Collective industrial enterprises owned the balance of 1.4 percent of the assets, employed 11.2 percent of the workers, and contributed 9.9 percent of the industrial output. Small private enterprises, mostly artisan shops, accounted for only 0.4 percent of the industrial output.
Organization
Size and Location
In 1970 the industrial establishment (excluding the private sector, information on which is not available) consisted of 1,827 state enterprises and 644 collective enterprises, employing about 1.02 million and 129,000 people, respectively. More than one-half of the enterprises in the state industry employed over 200 people, and almost one-fourth employed more than 1,000 people. Enterprises with large numbers of workers predominated in metallurgy; in the glass and china industry; in clothing manufacture; and in the leather, shoe, and fur industry. Beginning in 1971 previously independent enterprises were transformed into branches of countrywide trusts organized along functional lines (see ch. 12).
The territorial distribution of industry during the 1950-70 period was determined in large part by the priority development of heavy industry, the location of which was dictated mainly by the sites of raw material sources and the location of major consuming centers. In this process several cities and districts, including Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, and Ruse, experienced a large population influx from rural areas and attendant shortages of housing and public services. At the same time many villages were deprived of their inhabitants, and homes and public facilities were abandoned.
In 1970 the Central Committee of the BKP laid down guidelines for a program of regional economic development, with a view to attaining an optimal distribution of productive resources (capital and labor). The aim of the program was to arrest excessive urban growth and the associated demands on the country's resources for new housing and other amenities and, at the same time, to help develop backward rural areas. Within these guidelines, decentralization of industry has been undertaken, and plans are being worked out for the socioeconomic development of individual districts under the Seventh Five-Year Plan (1976-80) and until 1990.
In this context the construction of new industrial plants in heavily populated areas has been restricted. Further production increases in these areas are to be attained through modernization of existing facilities and the introduction of more advanced technology. Special measures have also been adopted to promote economic growth in the relatively underdeveloped districts. In part, this program is implemented through the transfer of industrial activities, equipment, and labor from the congested cities and districts to rural areas. Transfers of this kind decreed by the Council of Ministers Bureau in December 1971 and July 1972 involved 195 production units and 25,000 workers and an annual output of 225 million leva (for value of the lev—see Glossary). Under existing plans lasting until 1975, however, industry and employment will continue to expand in some of the most heavily congested cities.
Supply System
The organization of a smoothly functioning materials and equipment supply system for industry has been an elusive goal of the leadership ever since the inception of the controlled economy. Various approaches to the problem over a period of years have not succeeded in accomplishing the basic task of ensuring a dependable supply of material resources to industrial producers. As a result, the economy has been officially reported to suffer enormous losses through production shutdowns, substitutions of materials that lower quality and increase costs, and hoarding of scarce materials. Heavy losses have also been incurred through improper storage of materials, careless use that entails excessive waste, and pilferage.
Adequate information on the organization and functioning of the industrial supply system has not been available. The latest reorganization of the supply system was undertaken at the end of 1971 with a view to providing a normal flow of supplies for the economic trusts beginning in 1972. Until 1971 the supply organizations had dealt almost entirely with individual enterprises. The reorganization was accompanied by extensive consultations with producers of raw materials, importing organizations, and industrial consumers. The consultations were held in order to clarify the needs of consumers, ensure the availability of the needed supplies, and agree upon specific measures for timely deliveries of materials and supplies.
Particular attention in the reorganization was paid to the problem of reducing the inventories of materials in enterprises and concentrating them in the supply organizations. Decisive measures were taken to halt the former practice of making deliveries of materials large enough to cover requirements for three months or longer. Under the new system, supply organizations are required to make periodic deliveries to consumers on guaranteed time schedules, at short intervals, and in quantities that do not exceed one month's requirements. Adherence to the regulation is to be used as a standard in evaluating the performance of supply organizations.
One of the basic elements in industrial consumer-supplier relations has been the annual contract for estimated material and equipment requirements needed to complete the annual production quota. For a variety of reasons both suppliers and users have often failed to honor these contracts, and the penalties provided for breach of contract have not been sufficient to deter this practice. Breaches of supply contracts have been an important cause of economic difficulties. Supply difficulties have been particularly disruptive because of the traditionally stringent nature of the production plans and the limited availability of resources.
In 1972 the Ministry of Supply and State Reserves planned to take energetic measures to strengthen contract discipline and to use contracts as legal and economic instruments for exerting pressure on bothparties to fulfill their obligations. The minister considered it particularly important to put an end to the practice of contract cancellation, either under provisions of official regulations or by mutual agreement of the parties concerned—a practice that, according to the minister, caused huge losses to the national economy.
Structure
Manufacturing is the dominant sector of industry in terms of employment and output. In 1971 manufacturing accounted for 93.9 percent of the total industrial output and provided employment to 88.3 percent of the industrial labor force. Mining and energy production contributed 3.6 and 2.5 percent, respectively, of the industrial output and employed 10.3 and 1.4 percent, respectively, of the labor force. More than half the industrial establishment was devoted to the production of capital goods. In 1971 the capital goods sector employed 52.5 percent of the industrial labor force and produced 56 percent of the output. The relative importance of the capital goods sector had been rising over a period of years, from 36.7 percent of the output in 1948 and 47.2 percent in 1960. During the same period the contribution of the consumer goods sector to total output had declined from 63.3 percent in 1948 to 52.8 percent in 1960 and 44 percent in 1971. As a consequence of the priority development of heavy industry, the supply of consumer goods on the domestic market has been inadequate to meet consumer needs (see ch. 5).
In terms of their employment shares, the largest state industry branches in 1971 were: machine building and metalworking, 25.5 percent; food processing, 14.4 percent; and textiles, 11.3 percent. Next in importance, but with much lower levels of employment, were: timber and woodworking, 7.4 percent; chemicals and rubber, 6.1 percent; and fuels, 5.5 percent. Industrial branches that experienced the most rapid growth in the 1960-71 period included ferrous metallurgy, chemicals and rubber, machine building and metalworking, and fuels. Among the slowest growing branches were timber and wood processing, textiles, nonferrous metallurgy, and food processing.
FUELS AND POWER
Domestic resources of mineral fuels are inadequate for the needs of industry. Through the limitation that it places on electric power development, the fuel shortage—in the absence of a large hydroelectric power potential—may become a major factor inhibiting industrial growth. In 1968 the proportion of petroleum and natural gas in the fuel balance was somewhat more than 42 percent; it is planned to rise to about 60 percent in 1975 and to at least 65 percent in 1980. Virtually all petroleum and natural gas must be imported.
Coal and Lignite
Reserves of anthracite and bituminous coal are insignificant; their production amounts to less than 2 percent of the annual coal output. Brown coal deposits that can be mined economically are nearing exhaustion, and brown coal production declined by about one-third in the 1960-70 period. Low-calorie lignite remains the major fuel base for thermoelectric power stations. Reserves of this inferior fuel are large.
Coal deposits are scattered in about twenty small deposits. Because of difficult geological conditions, however, only a few of the deposits are exploited. Anthracite is mined in the Svoge basin, located in the Iskur gorge area of the Stara Planina, north of Sofia. Bituminous coal is mined in the same mountain range, in the area between Gabrovo and Sliven. The deposit at Sliven was reported to contain a very small quantity of coking-grade coal—a quantity far below the needs of the iron and steel industry. In addition to large annual imports of coking coal, Bulgaria has also imported from 250,000 to 465,000 tons of coke per year.
The main source of brown coal for many years has been the Pernik basin in the upper Struma valley, about nineteen miles southwest of Sofia. In the 1971-75 period brown coal mining is to be substantially expanded at the Bobov Dol deposit in the Rila mountain range, south of the Pernik basin. The Babino mine in the Bobov Dol coalfield is scheduled to become the largest underground coal mine in the Balkans. Reserves in this deposit, however, are equivalent to only about five to six years' production at the 1970 rate of brown coal output.
Lignite is mined mainly in the Maritsa basin, near Dimitrovgrad in the Thracian Plain, and in the Sofia Basin. The Maritsa basin, particularly the area known as Maritsa-Iztok (Maritsa-East), has become the basic source of coal production, contributing about 50 percent of the country's output. Aside from planned new mine construction, the Maritsa-Iztok complex is to be rebuilt and modernized. Production problems at this mine have not yet been solved satisfactorily. Coal-bearing strata have not been fully identified; equipment is utilized to only about 40 percent of capacity; and the organization of labor is poor. Substantial improvement also remains to be attained in processing the coal for market, in view of its high ash and moisture content. Unsolved problems also remain in the manufacture of coal briquettes.
In the 1971-75 period substantial investment is to be devoted to the expansion and modernization of coal mines. New mines with an annual capacity of about 4 million tons are to be built. Three-fourths of the investment funds are to be concentrated on three major production centers. The relative investment shares of these centers were planned to be: Maritsa-Iztok complex, 41 percent; Bobov Dol complex, 25percent; and the Georgi Dimitrov mine at Pernik, 10 percent.
Production of marketable coal increased by 83 percent in the 1960-70 period to a level of about 29 million tons. The rise in output, however, was confined to lignite production, which grew more than fourfold during the decade. Production of bituminous and brown coal declined by 42 and 32 percent, respectively. Output of anthracite in 1970 equaled the output in 1960 but was 9 percent below the production level in 1966. Production of both anthracite and bituminous coal amounted to less than 400,000 tons in 1970. Strip mining has steadily grown in importance and accounted for 73 percent of the output in 1970.
The Sixth Five-Year Plan (1971-75) calls for a rise in coal output to 33 million tons—an increase of about 13 percent. In the view of the minister of heavy industry, the planned increase is not large, but its attainment is difficult considering the character and condition of the mines. Experience has justified the minister's assessment. In the first two years of the five-year period, coal output rose by less than 1 percent.
Crude Oil and Natural Gas
Deposits of crude oil are located at Tyulenovo in the Dobrudzha region and at Dolni Dubnik, east of Pleven. Natural gas fields have been discovered near Vratsa and in the area of Lovech, south of Pleven. Reliable information on the magnitude of crude oil and natural gas reserves is not available. Statistics on current imports and official projections of import requirements, however, indicate that domestic production of oil and natural gas will continue to cover only a small fraction of needs.
Production of crude oil rose from 200,000 tons in 1960 to 500,000 tons in 1967 but declined thereafter to 305,000 tons in 1971. Natural gas output, which had increased to 18.5 billion cubic feet in 1969, declined to 16.7 billion cubic feet in 1970 and 11.6 billion cubic feet in 1971. Imports of crude oil, mostly from the Soviet Union, increased almost 3-1/2 times between 1965 and 1971 to a level of 7.5 million tons. In 1972 the Soviet Union alone provided 95 percent of the country's requirements for crude oil and petroleum products. Imports of natural gas from the Soviet Union, through a pipeline still under construction, are scheduled to begin in 1974 at a level of 35 billion cubic feet and to continue at an annual rate of 106 billion cubic feet beginning in 1975. The planned 1975 import volume represents about three-fourths of the estimated requirements in that year.
Crude oil is processed in two refineries, located at Burgas and Pleven, with daily throughput capacities of about 16,500 tons and 5,500 tons, respectively. Except for the small domestic output, crude oil for the Pleven refinery is moved by rail from Black Sea ports. A pipeline network that will connect the refinery with the ports is under construction and is scheduled to enter into full operation in 1975.By that date the capacity of the Pleven refinery is planned to attain 16,500 tons per day. A pipeline under construction for the transport of petroleum products from the Burgas refinery to consuming centers at Stara Zagora and Plovdiv is to be completed sometime in 1973.
The refinery output has not been sufficient to cover all the country's requirements for petroleum products. Net imports of petroleum products in 1970, including gasoline, fuel oils, and lubricating oils, amounted to 2.5 million tons. Ninety percent of the imports originated in the Soviet Union.