MORE WAR MATERIEL SHIPPED TO BULGARIA; SAYS BULGARIAN ARMY, ECONOMY DISINTEGRATING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600400234-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 25, 2011
• Sequence Number: 234
• Publication Date: July 10, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/25: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600400234-7
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INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
' CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPOR~
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Military -? Arm, war materiel
Daily newspaper
Buenos Aires
23 AF` 1951
DATE OF 1951
INFORMATION
DATE DIST. /o Jul 1951
N0. OF PAGES 2
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
iN15 DOCUY[NT CONTAINS IN IO RY ATION AC/LOtINO TN[ NATIONAL D[1[Nf{
0/ TN[ UNITlO lTAT LS NITNIN TN[ Y[A NIMO 0/ [S /IO NA[[ AOt t0
Y. S. C.. ]I AND JS, AS AY [N DCD. Ii] TRANSMISSION OR TN[ R[Y[LATION
MI[IT[OL [T TLAMS I RIIRODU CTION 0/ TNIS /OR YN OI SI IRONI[IT[p. if IRO
Argentiniaches Ta~eblatt janti~Communis]<
MGRE WAR MATERIEL SHIPPED_TO BUI,GARTA;
SAYS BULGARIAN ARMY, ECONOMY DISINP~:GRATING
The Bulgarian Army, reputedly the beat-equipped and moat reliable
military force in the Balkans, is disintegrating from within and is ut-
terly incapable of waging a war of aggression against its neighbors, alone
or wiih Moscow's other satellites. The Bulgarian soldier will not sacrifice
himself for the Communist doctrine which has brought only misery and starva-
tion to his country. That is the opinion of Turkish officers and political
experts in Edirne, where the information supplied daily by some 1,000 Turkish
refugees from Bulgaria is systematically checked and processed,
These reports confirm that in recent years every effort has been made .by
the Kremlin to create a stong Bulgarian army of mercenaries, While the Treaty
of -Paris allowed Bulgaria an army of only 55,000 men, Soviet General Panchev-
akiy, Bulgarian Defense Minister, is said to have at his disposal at present
an army of 150,000 men, not counting the three Soviet armored divisions sta-
tioned within the Burgas-Stalin-Plovdiv triangle. Large shipments of war
materiel are continually arriving Prom the USSR.
In past weeks shipping operations have been at a peak. The Black Sea
porn; of Stalin, formerly Varna, and Burgas, which are under Soviet military
control, have been declared restricted zones. The Soviet weapons shipped to
Bulgaria are, almost without exception, of the latest typed T-34 tanks mounted
with 7.62-centimeter ZIS guns, some Tiger tanks, and considerable quantities
of medium and heavy guns0
Feverish military activity in Bulgaria during recent months hes been re-
ported at Edirne.? Integrated Yortificatione are being built along the Greco-
Turkiah frontier, Strategic railroad lines are being adapted to the Soviet
gauge by construction of a third rail. A stretch of 15 kilometers along the
Yugoslav border has been treneformed into a totally blacked-out, strongly~for-
tified zone in which, according to latest reports, a radar screen is being
built for protection against enemy air attacks. Freight trains loaded to
capacity with war materiel are rolling from Stalin and Burgas to the Yugoslav
border. A short time ago, ships in the Danube ports of Nikopol and Ruse were
so heavily loaded with weapons and military equipment that the passengers --
Turkish refugees -G were not even allowed to take their baggage on board.
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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/25: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600400234-7
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/25: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600400234-7
Only -three Soviet divisions in Bulgaria and two elite Bulgarian divi-
Hions are equipped with modern weapons T~ne officers and noncommissioned
nfficet~s receiveu Their training in the USSR, and the ranks are made up of
pc_lit.ica.lly reliable workers., The divisions, which are completely motorized
and have great fire power, are made up of the following? an armored regiment,
a motorized infantry regiment, reconnaissance units made up of two armored
companies and a company of motorcyclists, an antitank battalion, and an anti-
aircraft battalion.. The Soviet air forces stationed 1n Bulgaria are equipped
with 120 Yak fighte.ra, 80 Stormoviks, and 80 light bombers
However, the great Y,Ulk_ ~:f *:he new Bulgarian Army (12 devisions) is
equipped with obsolete arms and old weapons captured68O pefcesOof heavy This
materiel includes .1O0 pircPS n_ mowitain artillery,
artillery, 120 pieces of light. artillery, 550 antitank guns, and 276 anti-
aircraft guns.
According to 'Itiarkish military circles, the fact that the Bulgarian Army
has been equipped with obsolete weapons proves the Kremlin s lack of confi-
dence in the morale and fighting qualities of the Bulgarian soldier Indeed,
it is widely felt that this suspicion is firmly foundEl and that most Bulgar-
ians would desert in the event of a Moscow-instigated war of aggression
Among the Turkish border population which, despite its proximity *~ the
Iron Curtain, 1s facing futuze develepmerts with admirable composure, '
feeling prevails that the striking power of the Bulgarian Army is being over-
estimated in Western Europe The poor morale of the Bulgarian soldier and
the disastrous economic conditions are the factors underlying this optimistic
view..
Reports of Turkish repatriates from Bulgaria unanimously imply that
Bulgaria faces famine and economic collapse? The lines 1n front of bakeries
are growing longer dailyo The bread which Bulgarian housewives can buy, after
waiting in line for 2 hours, is of poor quality because it is made with flour
to which large amounts of corn are added From time to time meat is suddenly
offered on the market in large quantities However, this meat is barely edi-
ble, as it comes from the hundreds oP animals dying as a result of the great
fodder ehortage~ Part of this meat is sent to the USSR, where ;t is canned
and returned to Bulgaria under the program of the Soviet Relief for Needy
Bulgarian Tp some extent the food crisis in Bulgaria is a consequence of
the farmcri' pensive resistance to the regime. In Kyustendil and Provadiya
okoliyas not a single egg was delivered to the state in March '.951 Un the
other hand, neither fat nor flour was ob?sinable in these provinces In
some instances, all but one kilogram of flour was taken away from the farmers
by the state requisitioning brigades,. To feed their families, the farmers
had to buy their necessities on the black markei, paying twice as much as
they had received from the government for the same,itema~
In view of the widespread discontent prevailing among the people, reliable
sources view the Bulgarian "saber rattling" as mere bluff, to divert world
attention from other crisis centers, where real preparations for military
actions are in progress
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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/25: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600400234-7