BULGARIA BEGINS PRODUCTION AT ONE OF THE TEN LARGEST NITROGEN FERTILIZER PLANTS IN THE WORLD

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T01003A001700050001-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 5, 2002
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: July 12, 1963
• Content Type: BRIEF

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CONFIDENTIAL
Current Support Brief
BULGARIA BEGINS PRODUCTION
AT ONE OF THE TEN
LARGEST NITROGEN FERTILIZER PLANTS
IN THE WORLD
CIA/RR CB 63-60
12 July 1963
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Office of Research and Reports
CONFIDENTIAL
GROUP 1
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declassification
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This material contains information affecting
the National Defense of the United States
within the meaning of the espionage laws,
Title 18, USC, Secs. 793 and 794, the trans-
mission or revelation of which in any manner
to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
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C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-T-I-A-L
BULGARIA BEGINS PRODUCTION
AT ONE OF THE TEN
LARGEST NITROGEN FERTILIZER PLANTS
IN THE WORLD
Bulgaria announced on 26 April 1963 the start of production of ammo-
nium nitrate at its new nitrogen fertilizer plant on the Kalitinovo railroad
near Stara Zagora. I/ This plant, construction of which is being accom-
plished in large part through Soviet aid, is scheduled for completion in
1963 2/ and reportedly is one of the 10 largest plants of this type in the
world. 3/ The designed annual capacity is believed to be about 200, 000
metric tons of ammonia as the initial product 4/ and about 450, 000 metric
tons of ammonium nitrate as the end product. When put into full operation,
presumably in 1964 or 1965, the Stara Zagora plant will benefit the Bul-
garian economy in several ways. The availability of nitrogen fertilizers
will be more than doubled compared with 1961 and, in turn, should con-
tribute to an increase in agricultural output. Moreover, the plant will
provide additional full-time employment for nearly 3, 000 persons in an
area that has surplus labor. Requirements for electric power, coal,
and rail transportation will be increased by the activity of the new plant.
Finally, Bulgaria will be able to reduce or even discontinue the importa-
tion of nitrogen fertilizers with resultant benefits to its foreign trade
position.
Bulgaria has obtained appreciable financial and technical assistance
from the USSR to construct the Stara Zagora plant. This project, among
several others, was included in two long-term loans from the USSR:
one of 200 million old rubles (about US $50 million)* in 1957 and another,
evidently negotiated in 1963, reported to be approximately 1 billion new
leva (about US $855 million)*. The latter is to be made available over the
Dollar values in this publication were derived from ruble or lev ratios
by means of official rates of exchange and may not reflect accurateLyt;the
purchasing power of the Bloc currencies.
C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-T-I-A-L
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next 10 or 15 years. Total planned investment in the plant reportedly is
US $90 million. 6/ Bulgaria was to provide one-third of the machinery
and equipment for the plant, 7/ with the USSR presumably supplying the
remainder, except for a small amount from East Germany. The blue-
prints for the plant and the technicians needed for its construction have
been provided by the USSR. 8/
2. Significance
The planned output of the Stara Zagora plant and the nitrogen and
phosphorus fertilizers to be produced at Bulgaria's other fertilizer
plant at Dimitrovgrad and at a coke-chemical plant under construction
at Kremikovtsi are expected to be sufficient to supply 80 percent of
Bulgaria's needs for all types of chemical fertilizer by 1965. 9/
Through 1960, Bulgaria exported small quantities of nitrogen fertilizers,
especially to other members of the Bloc, but imported much larger quan-
tities from the USSR, East Germany, and certain Western countries, such
as West Germany. In an apparent effort to improve its foreign trade posi-
tion, Bulgaria discontinued imports from the West and increased exports
of nitrogen fertilizers in 1961, becoming a net exporter, but since 1959
a sharp decline has resulted in the amount of such fertilizer available
for domestic agriculture (see the table). Such a condition is expected to
be reversed by the increased supply of nitrogen fertilizer to be made
available by the Stara Zagora plant. Domestic consumption of chemical
fertilizer is scheduled to increase from 32 kilograms per hectare of
arable land in 1960 to 80 kilograms by 1965. 10/ Inasmuch as the type
most needed is nitrogen fertilizer, the Stara Zagora plant will be a
decisive factor in reaching this goal.
The increased availability of fertilizer for domestic use should con-
tribute to an increase in agricultural production. Nitrogen fertilizer is
particularly important for such crops as vegetables, tobacco, sugar
beets, corn, and sunflowers. Because the best response to the use of
nitrogen fertilizer in Bulgaria has been on irrigated land, the country's
future demand for this type of fertilizer is closely connected with the
planao irrigate approximately 60 percent of the arable land by 1980. 11 /
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C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-T-I-A-L
Table
Production, Foreign Trade, and Domestic Availability
of Nitrogen Fertilizer in Bulgaria a/
1955 and 1959-61
1955
1 959
ig6o .
1961
Production
94,135
185,1+20
247,763
262,765
Imports
49,1+00
31+8,650
87,781
57,200 J
Exports
20,159
33,565
26,008
67,685
Amount available
113,376
500,505
309,536
252,280
for domestic use
a. 12
b. Estimated on the basis of total fertilizer imported.
In addition to improvements in agriculture, benefits to the economy
as a whole are expected to accrue from this development. Bulgaria not
only should be able to reduce or even discontinue its imports of nitrogen
fertilizer, which amounted to 144.5 million old leva (about US $21 mil-
lion) during 1958-61, 13/ but also will be able to export fertilizer without
excessive detriment to domestic agriculture. By providing full-time
employment for 2, 800 persons, 14/ the plant will help improve employ-
ment conditions in the Stara Zagora area. In 1957, when the location of
the new fertilizer plant was to be decided, the Stara Zagora area came
under consideration, among other reasons, because of the unemployment
existing there at that time. 15/ The number of persons to be employed
at the plant is equal to 8 percent of the total number of industrial
employees in Stara Zagora Okrug in 1961, as well as to more than
12 percent of the total number of employees in the chemical and rubber
industry in the same year. 16/ Major new demands for power, raw
materials, transportation, and other goods and services, of course,
will be created. By 1965 this plant reportedly will consume 4 million
to 5 million tons of coal and 860 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per
year. 17/ These inputs will be equal to about 11 to 14 percent of the
planned output of coal and to about 8 percent of the total output of electric
power planned in Bulgaria for 1965.
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