LIVING CONDITIONS IN BULGARIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R011700210009-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 15, 2011
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: April 30, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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51-4AA
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL/CONTROL.- U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
144
SECURITY INFORMATION
50X1 -HUM
INFORMATION REPORT REPORT
CD NO.
COUNTRY Bulgaria DATE DISTR. 30 April 1952
'SUBJECT Living Conditions In Bulgaria
DATE OF?
INFO.
PLACE
ACQUIRED
NO. OF PAGES 5
fi2
4
7 NO. OF ENCLS.
L.V LI ILISTED BELOW)
clam! ATE SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES, WITHIN THE MEANING OF TITLE 18, SECTIONS 793
AND 794,. OF THE U.S. CODE, U.S AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR REVE-
LATION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT BY AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS
PROHIBITED BY LAW. THE REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITED.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
50X1-HUM
The following is a survey of living conditions in present-
day Bulgaria as far as inhabitants of cities and towns are
concerned. Some of the data applies to the peasantry, but
the report is not Concerned primarily with Bulgaria's
6,.000,.000 peasants whose standard of living has changed com-
paratively little during the last 50 years,
Wages in BUlgaria range from 51.000 to 30,000 leva per month; the average :wage
;
Is approximately l0l000-12,000 leva. Few wage earners receive mOre than 15,000
lova per Month 'T!.4.th the exception of Communist Party officials and industrial
executives such as factory managers and senior engineers who often receive as
much as 30,000 lova per mOnth. Factory workers earn between 180 and 420 leve
per day; shockworkera and miners earn slightly higher wages as a.result of
special incentive bonuses. A doctor in charge-of a hospital receives an average
of 16,000 leva per month; ordinary medical practitioners receive-. somewhat legal
senior. nurse and midwives receive 11,000 leva; and junior orderlies are paid
8,500 leva per month)-
Prices in general bear no relation to wages; few people- can afford to buy any-
thing beyond a minimum of essentials in spite of the fact that.practical4 all
types of day-to-day article; except luxury lines, are on sale, A list 07 .prices
oT foods, clothing, and fuel is enclosed in the Appendix. It is apparent from
e st that no average family can invest in an extremely poor quality radio
at 11.0, leva. or even afford a kitchen pail at 1,300 leva very often,_
can afford c t2lephone rental_ of 4,000 leva per year,.
All family budgeta ?e: dominated by the cost of food; all Wages left after the
deduction of essen is are spent for food. Essentials include rent (con-
trolled. average, 1,:30 leva per month), water (200 leva), and electricity (500
leva) or fuel; insurance contributions are paid by the employer, education is
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rt. E
Ev
x
NAVY
X
NSR8
DISTRIBUTION
A RMY
X
AIR
X
FBI
ORR
Ev xl
I
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free4$ and medical attention is free except for the cost of prescriptions. A new
dress, a theater ticket,t recreational expenses, and even fuel for central heat-
ing can bp afforded on4 at the expense of food. The allocations of rationed
food at lower prices are so small that all consumers are forced to mkt. supple-
mentary pUrChases on the Free Market. Bower, since the Bulgarian ia a hardy
animal normally content to exist on bread, soup, and Cheese, food prices acutely
affect only those families (chiefly the remnants of the middle class) who realize
that their Children are regulArly underfed .2
,
The standard of livint in BilEaria today is extremely uniform; there are no very
#
rich excepting the new aristocracy of Communist pfficials) and very few' really
pdor ',, xcePting the peasantry). Property owners, although not yet completely
eliminate, have either been ejected from their houses or restricted to the uAe
Of One or mOre rooms according to the size of their family - communist 9retotice.
seems to favor the 'allocation of one room to two persons; the new blocks of
apartments under conatruction are mainly one- or two-unit dwellings with a small
proportiOn of three-rdom units. The building program is not yet sufficiently
advanced tO'have an appreciable effect on the serious over-crowding in all are
tawns. :
Working class standards have risen somewhat in spite of the persecution of the
Stall former middle class and the depreciation of their standard of living caused
by the rise in the cOst of living. The peasant who has become an industrial
worker finds better 40commodations in the towns than he bad in his village; many
wOrkers today have bdre money in their pockets than they did 10 years asp!, Work-
ing conditions have improved, /51,,Tid workers do not demand the refinements taken for
granted by workers in Western Eui.p- .
. There are no shOrtagee,in the accepted sense of the word, because of rationing
by price," improved distribution methods in 1951 have eliminated the lack of
fruits and vegetables in the towns which was a bad feature of the 1950 system.
Socialism has brought little change to the Bulgarian villages. Electric power
has been brought into many districts, but no effort has been made to alleviate
the appalling overcrowding or to improve sanitary conditions. Postwar lack of
consumer goods in the villages is being overcome slowly, but the peasant is
generally indisposed toward paying the inflated prices demanded.
. ApproximAtelY 50 percent of the peasants are now members of cooperative farms
and resent the change in their traditional way of life and their new obligations;
however, they are still able to make a living from their residue of private
property, weave their Own wool, and make their own household equipment: Many
peasants can still sell their produce 1.:% local markets and work their land,
whether it is co-opted or not, from dawn to dusk, feeling most contented with- 2
out Outside interests; the cynical government is exploiting this state of mind.'
Source Comment: Over the past two years there has been a very marked im-
provement in the amount of consumer goods available. Prices in general
have not risen unduly, althonb the de-rationing of clothing in March 1951
me as a rude shock when it was realized that high Free Market prices were
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? ?
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substituted for the fairly reasonable ratigaed prices in force until then.
Wages, however, have hardly moved at all in recent years, with the result
that the middle class is beilg reduced to the level of the working class,
which in turn is comparatively better off since canteens, government-
operated rest centers, and similar institutions provide facilities at reduced
controlled prices and any surplus earnings Can be spent on goods, recrea-
tion, food, and drink, which.. are still regarded as luxuries by the vast
majority of Bulgarians.
50X1 -HUM
Comment g There seems to be a sincere desire on the part of the C.OMMIA!!
niet governMent to repay the worker with bread and circuses for its eXp10.1.ta
tion of his labor4 But the average Bulgarian worker, whose father or grand.-
father was inevitably a peasant, does not shrink from a good day's work and
unthinkingly finds cause for thanks in his reward. This unthinkingnese,
which is part Of the Bulgarian's lack of intellectual equipMent? coupled
with his lack of discipline, makes him easy bait for any dictatorship. A
strong central authority is the only answer to Bulgaria's present probleMS
and the average Bulgarian does not mind, Indeed a dictatorship which pander!:
to his needs is for the Bulgarian the best form of government he has ever
known,
APPENDIKg
Item
a. CLOTBIN0
Fair of shoes
Commentg The exchange rate is 797 lava per stable pound.
Rationed Price Free Market Price Remarks
re--L2111-1 IlEa_REJA-122__
6,000 leva
Woman's summer
aress 5,000 leva
Man's suit 15,000 leva
*Ws overcoat 20,000 leva
Length of material 3-10,000 leva
Shirt 2,500 leva
h4 FUEL
Pirin coal 5,800 leva per tOn
Perna ogsl
(1st grade) 3,800 leva per ton
POrnik. coal
(gnd grade) 2,800 leva per ton
WOOd
' leva per ton
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This is only a typical
selection of prices, all
types of clothing being on
sale. In most cases, however,
material is bought by the
meter and clothing is made up
by a tailor.
50X1 -HUM
Pernik coal, 2nd grade,
is normally adequate for the
ordinary customer if he is
prepared to wait until the
depot has the best type of
the grade.
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C. FOOD (The list below is not exhaustive of all unrationed food available)
Meat (carcass)
Ham
Salami
Bread
280 (1st quality
beef;
30 per 800 gram
brown loaf
50 per 800 graM
white loaf
(for very im-
portant people
on ?
Not available,
except for very
important people;
340 (3rd quality)
450 (2nd quality)
Goo (ipt quality)
1,000
500
50 per 800
gram brown
loaf
150 per 800
gm= white
loaf
Flour
300
Barley
-
110
Spaghetti
00
Corn
10-35 per cob
Rice
120
500
Fish
-
300-480
Chicken
500-700
Egg
25-60 per egg
Seasonal variations in
price. Six other qualities
of rationed meat are aVail-
able at prices lower than
280 leva per kilo. Ration
card categories and scaleS are
as follows;
Shockworkers, etc.?, 600
grams per week;
2?, Children up to 18: 500
grams per week;
3; Office workertA ete.: 300,
grams per week; and
Mot "usefully emPloYeesi..ef
housewives, etc.; 200 grams:
per week.
Ration for ordinary'con-
sumer is 4o0 grams per day.
Some categories of heavy
manual workers receive
double rations.
One annual allocation of one
kilo per ordinary bread ration
card at 80 leva.
Only legally obtainable when
it represents production sur-
plus to State quota.
Only legally obtainable when
it represents production our,.
plus to State quota
Allocation probably the, 4E00?
as oil, below.
Luxury fish, e.g.. Sturgeon,,
higher.
Per bird.
Seasonal variation
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Sugar
Milk
-5-
240
100
Butter
750
850-900
Oil (cooking,
sunflower
150
650
Lar&
650
Cheese (Milk)
400
(Cream)
500
Potatoes
30-160
Onions
20
APPles
60
Carrots
15
Beer
80
265
elivolre _
1,200
Coffee ? -
41M. 1?1.1
Cigarettes
(1st quality) ---
(2=1 quality) -
6o
145
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Soale sonal variation in
pt supplies on y
gusranted for children.
Only children under 18 are
entitled to a ration of
butter, but the average famili
cannot in any case afford this
Price,?.7,
'
Ration scales for oil are the
same as for meat except that
the allocation is on a monthly,
instead Of a weekly, basis.
Probably the allocation is the
same as that of oil, above.
Seasonal variation.
In season.
In season; this is an
average price for poorer
quality autumn fruits.
Unobtainable,
black market.
Unobtainable,
black market.
Pack of 20.
Pack of 20.
:rnIL/CoTROLROL.- UA S, 0b111014S ONLY
except ..cn
except on
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