NATIONAL ECONOMY SHOWS PROGRESS IN PAST 5 YEARS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600270351-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 15, 2011
• Sequence Number: 351
• Publication Date: December 13, 1949
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600270351-2
CLASSIFICATION RESTRICT
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGEi~~ REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY Bulgaria
SUBJECT Economic - Finance, ag!?i..u1t,Yre
HOW
PUBLISHED Daily newspaper
WHERE
PUBLISHED Sofia
DATE
PUBLISHED 7 Sep 1949
LANGUAGE Bulgar'an
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iai,.sr: Nc 1517, 1949?
NATIONAL ECONOMY SHOVE PROGRESS
TiQPAST~
The first years of One of the la f first measures of ttheFatherland Front, how-
ever, was war damages. to as-
ever, was to establish control of the war" classes over producti9a,
normal outputs and tcn p:nt sabotage. Speculation and black markets
flourished during the war, but 1,3gal and administrative measures of the Father-
land Front put an end to these a.tivities in a relatively short time.
The fight against inflation was'also successful. Previous fascist govern-
ments had been printing unlimited amounts of bills; the circulation of paper
money bad grown from 2,800,000,000 levas in 1938 to 45,834,000,000 in 1944, in-
cluding bonds. This meant that the circulltion had increased about 16 times,
or 160 percent, and foreshadowed a major inflation.
The now government put a stop to this development by launching a Liberty
Loan, subscribed to vithin a short time because of the active support of the
workers. A .aonstaw reform was introduced in March 1947: old bonds and notes
had to be exchanged for n.sw bills. As a result, money circulation was return-
ed to reasonable limits, almost twice as low as before the reform. Simulta-
nemly,, a mingle property 10,-y was ordered, but tax-exempt property was fixed
at a very high level, so that the working classes were practically exempt from
These measures permitted
lists
it
.
a
d only big cap
the measure, which atfGG,--te 21,600,000,000 ley" to be allotted to construu:tiou during the 1944 - 1946
period, a vary large amount co:,sidering the handicaps which had 'co --
awing this period.
The land reform outlined in the political platform of 17 September 1944
provided for dispossession of large private landowners in favor of landless and
small landed peasants. The Dew agricultural land law of 9 April 194 were created
state land fluid of 2,438,000 decares, of which 1,346,897
to :28,825 families, 743,704 to state farms, and 64,000 decares to farm Cooper-
atives.
r .7 '7 7 - 1 -
CLASSIFICATION RESTRICTED
T-l
STATE
ARMY
NSRB UISINIaUIIUn
FBI
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600270351-2
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600270351-2
STAT
RESTRICTED , '.a a*? d
The Fatherland Front goveriment firmly and con:aistently carried cut the *as-
sures called for by the land reform but bad to eliminate a great number of scat-
tered and unproft-:tive smaU farms to consolidate national agricultural econamW.
There were only 28 farm :ooperati.ves prim to 194. These served as a basis for
further development of cooperative farming. A special Farm Workers' Cooperative
Lav was peered in 19315 and sin:e then the number of cooperatives has increased
rapidly, as follows: 1944, 28; 1945, 398; 1946, 480; 1947, 549; 1948, 1,100; 1949
(to 1 August), 1,594.
In spite of difficaltiaa crated by the shorCaqs of machinery and by insuf-
ficiently organized work, the cooperatives' grain yield was 10 to 13 percent high-
er than on private farms. Record crops were produced in 1948. Thus, for example,
the cooperatives of Maritsa village in Pazardzhishko produced 374 kilograms of
wheat per dacare. The same is true for barley, potatos, sugar beets, rice, and
other varieties. It proves that Bulgarian soil, under proper scientific methods
and sufficient mechanical aid, can produce two or three tl;ses more than heretofore.
Farm workers' cooperatives have also done excellent work on intass?ve agriculture
and in livestock breeding. Their sowing and harvesting planning is far superior
to private farm methods. They also provide better technical and social services.
In 1948 alms, +:5 nurseries, 40 kindergartens, 70 cosmmity kitchens, cooperative
health services, etc., were established. It is expected that the cooperative
movement will become the l?dding factor in agricultural econospr during the Five-
Year Plan.
Another important raft= in the agricultural sector was the establishment of
machine-tractor stations. Thin development itarted in 1945 with five machine
tractor stations, and showed the following progress: in 1946 there were 21; in
1947, 31; in 1948, 71; and in September 1949, 86.
In February 1948, the National Council passed a law for the acquisition of
agricultural equipment. By virtue of this law, 3,350 tractors, 3,700 tbreshers,
1,660 tractor ploughs, and other equipment were acquired. Most of the equipment
was transferred to machine-tractor stations.
ti~1,b ~' a?7 kr'~
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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600270351-2