Industry of Bulgaria

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Industrial production
Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant - the largest Power Plant in South-eastern Europe
Main industries Metallurgical industry, electricity, electronics, machinery and equipment, shipbuilding, petrochemicals, cement and construction, textiles, food and beverages, mining, tourism
Industrial growth rate 5.5% (2007)
Labor force 33.6% of total labor force
GDP of sector 31.3% of total GDP

Bulgaria is an industrial nation will well-developed heavy and light manufacturing industry which accounts for 31.7% of the total national GDP for 2007.[1] That makes the Bulgarian industry the second largest branch of economy after the service sector. As of 2007 the sector employs 33.6% of the labor force.[1]

Bulgaria is among Europe's leading countries in production of lead, zinc, copper, hydraulic machinery (around 10% of the world production[2]), machine tools, caustic soda, nuclear energy, weapons and others. The country is a leading electricity exporter in South-eastern Europe.

The country has favourable natural, geographical, social and demographic factors for the development of industry. Bulgaria has strategic location on the crossroad of Europe, Asia and Africa; relatively rich mineral resources; social, transport and educational structure and highly-qualified work force.[3]

The beginnings of the Bulgarian industry dates back to 1833 when the Bulgaria industrialist Dobri Zhelyazkov opened the first modern factory on the Balkans in Sliven. However, the importance of industry dramatically increased during the period of Socialism in Bulgaria and accounted for more than 50% of the national GDP. The main market for Bulgarian manufacturing goods was Comecon, the economic organization organization of the communist states.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Before 1878

The first Bulgarian factory was built by the famous Bulgarian industrialist Dobri Zhelyazkov in Sliven. It manufactured woollen textiles and was the first textile factory in the Ottoman Empire as well. Several more factories were constructed before the Liberation in Plovdiv, Gabrovo, Ruse, Sliven, Karlovo, Sofia, Samokov and others which produced mainly textiles, soap, alcohol, wine and leather goods. Usually they were small, with few workers and some of them swiftly seized production due to competition from Western Europe.[4]

[edit] 1878-1945

After the Liberation of Bulgaria the country inherited very low customs fees and as a result the local industry quickly became to decline due to the import of cheaper and high-quality goods from Europe. After a number of protectionist laws passed by the government in 1890s and 1900s the industrial output grew. Soon there were foreign investments from Germany, Belgium, Austria-Hungary mainly in mining and processing of agricultural goods. In that period industry created 15% of the GDP.[5]

Despite the heavy and unjust peace treaty after World War I, the number of manufacturing plants increased between the two World Wars. In 1939 they were 3,345 and employed 112,000 people or around 30 employees per factory.[5] The factories were constructed mainly in the large cities and the nearby villages - Ruse, Plovdiv, Varna, Sofia, Pleven, Stara Zagora, Garbovo while a number of regions remained agrarian. In the beginning of World War II only five cities (Sofia, Plovdiv, Ruse, Varna and Burgas) accounted for 46,5% of the industrial output.[6]

The manufacturing industry was dominated by light (textiles, leather, footware) and food industry (tobacco, sugar, favour, butter, meat). Extraction of coal (near Pernik) an small quantities of ferrous ores was also developed. Aircraft were produced in Lovech, Bozhurishte and Kazanlak.[7] The Drjavna Aeroplane Robotilnitsa (Bulgarian for State Aircraft Workshops) factory in Bozhurishte manufactured military aircraft DAR.[8]

[edit] 1945-1989

The establishment of the communist regime after 9 September 1944 brought expansion and quick development of the Bulgarian industry. All plants were nationalized and Bulgaria had state-controlled planned economy. There was enormous increase in production in all branches of industry; huge industrial complexes were constructed; many new power plants, chemical, metallurgical, military and other factories were inaugurated, as well as a number of scientific institutes and bases. The economy of the country was integrated in the Comecon and Bulgaria specialized in the production of electronics, motor trucks, tinned foods.

A DDR stamp commemorating the Intercosmos program.
A DDR stamp commemorating the Intercosmos program.

During the 1940s the main objective of the Bulgarian Communist Party was to restore the economy from the damages during the Second World War. New roads and railways were built as well as small factories. During the 50s began massive expansion of the electro-transit network, a number of hydro plants including the Batak Hydro-power System and several coal plants were constructed. The extraction of coal increased and the first oil field was opened in Shabla. During the next decade many military and metallurgical plants were constructed (including Kremikovtsi steel plant). Cooperation on space technologies was developed with the USSR and the country supplied the Soviet space program with research devices and computers. Many new factories in the field of micro and precision electronics were inaugurated. In the 70s the share of industry in Bulgaria's economy continued to increase. In 1974 Bulgaria became the third communist state with a nuclear power plant after Kozloduy NPP was put into operation. On 10 April 1979 it became the 6th nation in the world to send man in space by the Intercosmos program.[9] During the 80s the country became one of the first European countries to develop serial production of personal computers (Pravetz series 8).

[edit] After 1989

After the democratic changes Bulgaria along with the other former communist states faced enormous economic difficulties especially in industry whose input decreased dramatically. Many manufacturing plants were closed and others went into bankrupt. With the loss of the traditional markets the export of high-tech products sharply decreased. The process of privatization was slow and difficult. However, since 2000 the Bulgarian industry began to revive and showed remarkable growth.

[edit] Sectors

[edit] Energetics

Main article: Energy in Bulgaria

Energy is one of the most important sectors in the Bulgarian economy and accounts for 18,2%[10] of the total industry production and employs 10.9% of the workforce in the manufacturing sector. Bulgaria is the primary exporter of electricity in South-eastern Europe as well as a major transit country for Russian gas and oil. Its role in the international transit of fuels is going to increase after the inauguration of several planned pipelines.

Coal is the only natural fuel found in abundance in the country. Most of the coal reserves are lignite (4,5 billion tons) in 18 basins. The largest deposit is Maritsa Iztok in Stara Zagora Province with 2,9 billion tons; followed by the Sofia basin in the Sofia valley (840 mln t.); Elhovo basin (656 mln t.); Lom basin (277 mln t.); Maritsa Zapad (170 mln t.) and others.[11] There is a large deposit of anthracite coal in Dobrich Province whose reserves are estimated at 1,2 bln t. but due to the large depth and moisture it is still unexploited.[12] The extraction of coal is 27,000,000 t ranking 19th in the world and 6th in the EU.[13] The deposits of oil and natural gas, mainly in northern Bulgaria, are insignificant.

Although Bulgaria's fuel deposits are not very rich, the country is a major producer of electricity. As of 2007 the production of electricity is 45,7 billion kWh.[14]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ a b 2008 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK: Economy of Bulgaria (2008)
  2. ^ Machine-building in Bulgaria
  3. ^ Дончев, Д. (2004). Теми по физическа и социално-икономическа география на България (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Ciela, pp. 271-272. ISBN 954-649-717-7. 
  4. ^ Дончев, Д. (2004). Теми по физическа и социално-икономическа география на България (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Ciela, pp. 272. ISBN 954-649-717-7. 
  5. ^ a b Дончев, Д. (2004). Теми по физическа и социално-икономическа география на България (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Ciela, pp. 273. ISBN 954-649-717-7. 
  6. ^ Дончев, Д. (2004). Теми по физическа и социално-икономическа география на България (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Ciela, pp. 274. ISBN 954-649-717-7. 
  7. ^ The Bulgarian aviation after WW1
  8. ^ Gunston, Bill (1993). World Encyclopedia of Aircraft Manufacturers. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 89. 
  9. ^ Ivanov Georgi
  10. ^ Дончев, Д. (2004). Теми по физическа и социално-икономическа география на България (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Ciela, p. 285. ISBN 954-649-717-7. 
  11. ^ Дончев, Д. (2004). Теми по физическа и социално-икономическа география на България (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Ciela, p. 40. ISBN 954-649-717-7. 
  12. ^ Дончев, Д. (2004). Теми по физическа и социално-икономическа география на България (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Ciela, p. 44. ISBN 954-649-717-7. 
  13. ^ Coal production (most recent) by country
  14. ^ Economy of Bulgaria
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