Bulgarian Business Bloc (BBB),
George GANCHEV
Other political or pressure groups: Democratic Alliance for the
Republic (DAR); New Union for Democracy (NUD); Ecoglasnost; Podkrepa
Labor Confederation; Fatherland Union; Bulgarian Communist Party
(BCP); Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (KNSB);
Bulgarian Agrarian National Union - United (BZNS); Bulgarian
Democratic Center; "Nikola Petkov" Bulgarian Agrarian National
Union; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Union of
Macedonian Societies (IMRO-UMS); numerous regional, ethnic, and
national interest groups with various agendas
International organization participation: ACCT, BIS, BSEC, CCC,
CE, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU,
ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarset, Intelsat (nonsignatory
user), Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, OSCE,
PCA, PFP, UN, UNAVEM III, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMOT, UPU, WEU
(associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant), ZC
Diplomatic representation in US: chief of mission: Ambassador Snezhana Damianova BOTUSHAROVA chancery: 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 387–7969 FAX: [1] (202) 234–7973
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant)
embassy: 1 Saborna Street, Sofia
mailing address: Unit 1335, APO AE 09213–1335
telephone: [359] (2) 88–48-01 through 05
FAX: [359] (2) 80–19-77
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red;
the national emblem formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe
has been removed - it contained a rampant lion within a wreath of
wheat ears below a red five-pointed star and above a ribbon bearing
the dates 681 (first Bulgarian state established) and 1944
(liberation from Nazi control)
Economy———
Economic overview: One of the poorest countries of central Europe, Bulgaria has continued the difficult process of moving from its old command economy to a modern, market-oriented economy. GDP rose a moderate 2.4% in 1995; inflation was down sharply; and unemployment fell from an estimated 16% to 12%. Despite this progress, structural reforms necessary to underpin macroeconomic stabilization were not pursued vigorously. Mass privatization of state-owned industry continued to move slowly, although privatization of small-scale industry, particularly in the retail and service sectors, accelerated. The Bulgarian economy will continue to grow in 1996, but economic reforms will remain politically difficult as the population has become weary of the process.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $43.2 billion (1995 est.)
GDP real growth rate: 2.4% (1995 est.)
GDP per capita: $4,920 (1995 est.)
GDP composition by sector: agriculture: 12% industry: 36% services: 52% (1994)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 35% (1995)
Labor force: 3.1 million by occupation: industry 41%, agriculture 18%, other 41% (1992)
Unemployment rate: 11.9% (1995 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $3.8 billion
expenditures: $4.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1994)
Industries: machine building and metal working, food processing, chemicals, textiles, construction materials, ferrous and nonferrous metals
Industrial production growth rate: 2% (1995)
Electricity: capacity: 11,500,000 kW production: 38.1 billion kWh consumption per capita: 4,342 kWh (1994)
Agriculture: grain, oilseed, vegetables, fruits, tobacco; livestock
Illicit drugs: important transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and, to a lesser degree, South American cocaine transiting the Balkan route; limited producer of precursor chemicals
Exports: $4.2 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
commodities: machinery and equipment 12.8%; agriculture and food
21.9%; textiles and apparel 14%; metals and ores 19.7%; chemicals
16.9%; minerals and fuels 9.3%
partners: former CEMA countries 35.7%; OECD 46.6% (EU 33.5%); Arab
countries 5.1%; other 12.6%
Imports: $4 billion (c.i.f., 1994)
commodities: fuels, minerals, and raw materials 30.1%; machinery and
equipment 23.6%; textiles and apparel 11.6%; agricultural products
10.8%; metals and ores 6.8%; chemicals 12.3%; other 4.8%
partners: former CEMA countries 40.3%; OECD 48.3% (EU 34.1%); Arab
countries 1.7%; other 9.7%
External debt: $10.4 billion (1995)
Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $39 million (1993)
note: $700 million in balance of payments support from Western
nations (1994)
Currency: 1 lev (Lv) = 100 stotinki
Exchange rates: leva (Lv) per US$1 - 70.5 (December 1995), 54.2 (1994), 27.1 (1993), 23.3 (1992), 18.4 (1991); note - floating exchange rate since February 1991
Fiscal year: calendar year
Transportation———————
Railways:
total: 4,292 km
standard gauge: 4,047 km 1.435-m gauge (2,650 km electrified; 917
double track)
other: 245 km 0.760-m gauge (1995)
Highways:
total: 36,932 km
paved: 33,904 km (including 276 km of expressways)
unpaved: 3,028 km (1992 est.)
Waterways: 470 km (1987)
Pipelines: crude oil 193 km; petroleum products 525 km; natural gas 1,400 km (1992)
Ports: Burgas, Lom, Nesebur, Ruse, Varna, Vidin
Merchant marine:
total: 103 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,084,090
GRT/1,596,735 DWT
ships by type: bulk 45, cargo 27, chemical tanker 4, container 2,
oil tanker 13, passenger-cargo 1, railcar carrier 2,
roll-on/roll-off cargo 6, short-sea passenger 2, refrigerated cargo 1
note: Bulgaria owns an additional 7 ships (1,000 GRT or over)
totaling 135,016 DWT operating under the registries of Liberia and
Malta (1995 est.)
Airports:
total: 355
with paved runways over 3 047 m: 1
with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 17
with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 10
with paved runways under 914 m: 88
with unpaved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 2