ECONOMIC; POLITICAL; SOCIOLOGICAL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600140160-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 13, 2011
• Sequence Number: 160
• Publication Date: May 3, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/14: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600140160-9
COW ML/
US OFFICIALS ONLY
CLASSIFICATION S CR;s1' CRET
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
REPORT
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1950
DATE DST. .5t M4Y 1951
NO. OF PAGES k
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO,
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
DATA FROM A f I tROOATION BiP01 :
ECONOI(IC AJD POLITICAL INFORMATION ON BULGARIA
a. Interra1 Political Bituaticn
(1) Aiinistration and Orgsalsation. Deber village has about 1,000
families. It belongs to Borisovgrad in Plovdiv 0 g. The preeident of the
Comonne Council of Deter is Tenio Xhristoaov Fatravt*ev, 1+7, feaa Daber. The
secretary of the local committee, Cea uniat Party of Balgtrta, is Ior n Xnno-
seliev, 35, from Deber.
(2)? Education. There are two primary aehauls and one preparatory
*nr,oiua in Deber. Attendx.-ce vp to the fourth year of yri ary oehool :e
c,Mul s:3ry. About &'0 students attend Wit bidher arhools >
(3) Youth. Membership in the Diattrov National'Ionth Association
is compulsory for students of all schools. For nonstvdants it is not compul-
sory, although they may be forced to Join through inMxect means. All ambers
of the Dimitrov National Youth Association receive spill rati9ne of nothing
and food.
COIfROL/US C"IrIALB ONLY
Aramrs
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/14: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600140160-9
50X1-HUM
50X1-HUM
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/14: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600140160-9
SECRET
(4) Social Welfare. A three-story hospital is being constructed
southwest of Borisovgrad> There is another hospital at Chirpan. In Plovdiv
there are two hospitals! the state hospital which is built on a small bill
end extends over an area of about one square kilometer, and a military hoe-
pital for which no details are available.
West of Khaskovo near the central prisons there is a two-story
military hospital which is being extended with new dwellings. AU government
workers or civil servants are insured and receive medical and pharmaceutical
benefits.
There are children e. centers which accept children from the ages
of 3 to 7. These centers cffer free food, clothing, shoes, shelter, and medi-
cal care. Parents may call for their children each evening if they so wish.
Generally, the children live very well.
Throughout Bulgaria there is a shortage of ned:cines. During the
summer months there is always an epidem'c of intestinal sickness
(5) People : s Morale, The Bulgarian people 's morale is not go r1
The majority of the population desires a change of the status quo. About
30 percent favor, the statue quo, The state propaganda has no influence on
the Bulgarian people. Listening to foreign radio broadcasts is permitted;
however, those doing so are locked upon with suspicion,
b Opposition to the Begins
(1) Internal Oppositi.cn There is no evidence of oppcsition to the
regime on the part of the people.
(2) Oppoeiti^n Abroad The Bulgarian refugees who fled to Turkey
have formed a Bulgarian emigrants' committee under the leadership of Strati.
Skerie', 446, former Agrarian Party teputy, from Volgerin village.. SkeoLc'-
had, been in a cencentrati:n .:.a!rp in Bulgaria but escaped in 1948. He now is
in Istanbul
(1) Greek Minority. Th.' are Greeks in Stenimachon, Plovdiv, and
Ivaylovgrad. The exact m.;mbr.r can.ct be determined. Thpy have the same rights
as Bulgarians and. they are occupl_d chiefly in the professions, trade, 'end to-
bacco cultivation. They are denied their own schools, however. Their netidnal
feeling is well cdnvcivped.
(2) Turkish Minority and. Pomats: Them are many Turks in Bulgaria,
especially in the Rhodope and t'obruzhe They have their own schools and
are occupied chiefly with agriculture. Today they are under pressure by the
Bulgarians to emigrate to Turkey. The rcm:.ks who are found chiefly in the
Rhodope are undergoing the came pressure.
(3) Jewish Minority. Since moat of the Jews have emigrated tc
Ierael,to(iay there are very few left in Bulgaria.
()A) Armenian Minority. tip to 19h7, there was a considerable number
of Armenians in Bulgaria. During that year, however, most of them emigrated
to the USSR and settled near the Caucasus..
SECRET
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/14: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600140160-9
 3. -c'o t'0R
a. Formation of Coaamunist Bystemm
once a year each commune council, reports to the state the number of
decares cultivated and the type of product produced by the coxmmune. On the
basis of this information, the state fixes a quota for each co one of the
nt r of acres to be cultivated for each product. The commeune council, in
turn. sets the quota for each producer. Each producer is
quota, but If he does not, unatever uc hiia
a ration.
b. Monetary Situation
The currency is steady, The official market value of the US dollar
is 350 leva, of the napoleon 1,890 levy. One US dollar is equivalent to 1,000
lava in the free market, a napoleon 15,000 lava, and a British pound 20,000
lava. Anyone arrested for exchanging foreign currency will be given 3 years'
imprisonment and fined.
c. Food Prices
The daily per-capita distribution of food includes bread and the
f of icvring:
Commodity
Soap
Amount
(Fam)
Price
in lava
140 per kg
120 per kg
Sugar
250
165 per liter
011
250
130 per kg
Rice
.50
180 per kg
Gheeee
Most of the above food rations were insufficient foe the people; there-
n:a:from oathe cooperatives cn240elfree marke 750
fore, they had to procure per their
at the following pri
lava, and rice 650 lava.
Clothing and shoes are distribute- to Com ufliat Party members only.
The officio- market price and the free market price of clothing and shoes are
as follovs2
Official
Market Price
(lava)
Free Market
Price
teva)
2,400
9,000
shoes
6.800
17500
Suit of clothes (av type)
100
4,500
Shirt (inferior quality)
140
800
Cabot cloth (1 meter)
3-
SECRET
SECRET
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/14: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600140160-9
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/14: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600140160-9
SECRET
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/14: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600140160-9
d. Taxation
Workers rust pay 10 percent of their income as tax. Viers are di-
vided into sic eategoria s of taaape ere according to the yield of their land.
e. Laborers
laborers work 8 hours a day. Women earn 280 to 400 leva per day. Men
earn 400 to 450 per day. There is no shortage of specialists except in big
factories, where Czechoslovak speeiaiiste are urea. . iu 1z, rr, ,...~ ~., . __
in Bulg r1O.
f. Agrar iaia Policy
No state assistance is given to fermaers who are not members of farm
workers' cooperatives. By heavy taxation, however, they are forced to join
the farm workers' cooperatives against their wishes. It is estimated that up
to now only 10 to 15 percent have joined farm workers' cooperatives.
12. Greeks in Bulgaria
b. Abducted Greeks
During 1948 in Berkovitsa, the source saw a group of Greeks, men,
women, and children, waiting for the distribution of bread in the front yard
of a school in the center of the city. The source heard that 5,000-6,000
Greeks were in Berkovitsa. During June 1950, the source was in Sofia where
he met a Macedonian Slav named Paschal, from Kostur, Greece, vhc told him
that there are many Greeks in Botevgrad also.