REPRESSIVE ADMINISTRATION OF STATE FARMS AND KOLKHOZES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00926A004200030049-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 11, 2003
• Sequence Number: 49
• Publication Date: August 8, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

COUNTRY
SUBJECT
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
DATE OF INFORMATION
LI. IS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
2 THE UNITED STATES WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE ESPIONAGE ACT 50
C.. 91 AND 92, AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR THE REVELATION
TS CON TENTS IN ANY MANNER TO AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS PRO-
BITED BY LAW. REPRODUCTION _OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITED.
Bulgaria
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
If'ORMATION REPORT
Repressive Administration of State 7arms and
$o1kho zees
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DATE DISTR. Aug 1951
NO. OF PAGES 5
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
1. The first cooperatives were established with the all of -violence. During the five
years between 1944 and 1949, howeTer, there were no more than 500 cooperative farms,
operating sear,oely more than five percent of B,ualgariat s land, Only the Communists
and small and landless peasants joined.. The middle Bulgarian peasant did not yield
to threats, imprisonment, and violence. As a result the Communists were not able
to carry out the orders of their Moscow chiefs to collectivise the Bulgarian rural
areas,
At the and of 1949 and at the beginning of 1950, however, propaganda and measures
of violence were int.ensif ied. Dozens of mikes who .resisted the Oomm? Lists were
sent to prison and to camps. Despite this he herolc spirit of the peasants was
not broken and they remained or,.tside the cooperati Teso
Stalin in the Kremlin probably became furiolis that the Bulgarian Co tm;ists, headed
by Tulka Chervenkoy, had not su;,ceeded in crashing the spirit of the Bulgarian
farmer and his love for liberty and independence. The repressive measures taken
against him will be recorded by the history of h. (anity0
At the beginning of 1950 the government issued decrees concerning the delivery of
the total production of milk, wool, lambs, fowls, eggs, grapes, etc, There was
also a decree ordering a ten-fold increase in taxes, and accordingly for one
decree of grain 3,000 leva were demanded, for one decare of industrial crops,
5,000 leva9 for one sheep, lg 5U0 lava, for one hive of bees 89000 leva0 for one cow
39000 lava, etc- It must also be recalled that deliveries were made to the govern-
ment at strictly controlled and low prices, averaging 20 lava per kilogram of grain,
90 lava for industrial crops, 260 lava for wool, )5 lava for milk, 500 lava for
honey. At the same time the yields were 50 percent below the figures stated in
the decrees, so that each farm family was taxed about 50,000 lava on its general
income and together with all other taxes, direct and indirect, its tax burden came
to 1209 000 lava, although average gross income was not more than 100,000 1eva0
The price of all industrial products, especially agricultural equipment, r^ose0 A
plow cost 20,000 lava, a plowshare 500 lava, wagon tires 400 lava a kilogram,
construction timber 30,000. lava, nails 660 lava per kilogram, cotton yarn 4,000
lava per kiXgiam, woolen cloth up to 8,000 lava per meter, etc,
A decree was issued nullifying all back taxes and fines of those who would become
cooperative members by the end, of 19500
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instance, pmt of the 5$,000 Sscares under cultivation, 638,000 decares here
,* si d. tae of S0- kilograms per decare for. grain, and 40 kilograms per
dare of industrial and oleaginous crops. Delivery was made of 28,000,000
ki.o'ams-of grain, 2,500,000 kilograms of sunflowers; 300,000 kilograms of raw
oottonj 600,000 kilograms of hemp fibers all the grapes; 1,000,000 kilograms of
with no allowances made for the drought that season), all the flax, sesame
a
VMa ''P..
planting, he .farmers went from village to village and to other okoliyas in
$oh of grain so that they could meet their quotas. In Blkhovo Okoliya, for
d SO eraeiit of the farmers did not even have enough seed left for
t 's
mpr sonme
X;rq?ttolesale -Fines, arrests, sentences, beatings, ea
and indvstrie,l and oleaginous crops had to be delivered to the gvvern-
AWV 7MVr v. - - - -
or not the fields were planted and whether or not drought, hail, flood, etc,
might affect the crops. All farmers were assigned delivery quotas which were
'grss~ter than their actual crops. Between 1 August and 10 October 19.50 there
i i nts Grain
d
producers themselves, should be studied,
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h$,o;ther.;crops. Of animal products, over 200,000 kilograms of raw wool were
delivered; 2,000,000 kilograms of milk; 30,000 lambs and 5,000,000 eggs, and
,the producers were'left nothing, All the above items were shipped by rail to
1h=gas and:.'from there to the USSR.
To drive home what this means, the following figures indicating the needs of the
(1.) Rho working population requires, for its own sustenance,
i h ear or ----- 1S 000 000 kg.
a-
c y a ,
-d'yer 300 kilograms of grain per cap ta~N; e
de.carev a ,
i
seed at the rate of 20 kilograms per decare for 399,000_
. -- 7 980 000 kg.
iIIIIaa. Iva +4v,--- w ..- --- --- -
3,600,000 kg.
,kilograms per head yearly
$ Feed for 25,000 head of cattle, at a minimum yearly
I cM AAA Le
ate per nsaa or ov MIlogramo -v--,
(5. Peed for at least 10,000 hogs at 200 kilograms each ----- 2,000,000 kg.
teed for poultry, at least 100,000 fowls receiving
'.10 kilo.grams. each
Q rpquirment of grain of Zlkhovo Okoliya
Auantity of Grain Actually Left with the ?.armors
of Zlkhovo.Okoliya
1,000,000 kg.
34,000,000 kg.
3,940,000 kg-
30,2h0-00o kg-
,Those unable tot comply with the quotas were punished. In Blkhovo Okoliya over 1,000
'parse As were arrested, over 4100 were fined, and the total amount collected in fines
ersons were sent to concentration camps
r 20
eth
lt
p
e
og
ver 8,000,,000 lava. A
pefioit of Grain of Elkhovo Okoliya
. to prisons.
t, :.Mamas S shma*nny- village of Melnitsa. He delivered 12,000 kilograms
acres e
: Of wheat to the State, and was fined. 60,0VV 18VN6s? &M w~w
ed hi r claimin ? "I 8, a
o g
a
l
na
ae ;~nes~ of the people , n s m
o
ac on
p
his arms tied behind hi.x, and a sign p
f 4-u -t he was paraded through the
an
;whole village.
Ivan I1che', city of llkhovo, fined 10,000 lever, interned, and his
family banished from Vrachan.
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Thristo Talamov, city of Elkhovo, fined 10,000 lava.
Zlatyu Mitev, village of Zhdrebino, fined 30,000 leva, sentenced
to.one year of imprisonment.
Atanas Aygurov, village of Zhdrebino, 70 years old, fined 30,000
lava, sentenced to one year of imprisonment.
Kolyu Mitev Astakov, village of Zhdrebino, fined 30,000 lava, sen-
tenced to one year of imprisonment.
Kolyu Tonev Rusev, village of Zhdrebino, fined 30,000 lava, sen-
tenced to four months of imprisonment.
Vilekoo Aristov, village of Zhdrebino, fined 20,000 lava.
Stoyan Z. Pendekov, village of Zhdrebino, fined 10,000 lava.
Tenyu Petrov, village of Zhdrebino, fined 10,000 lava.
Minyu Tonev, village of Zhdrebino, fined 10,000 lava.
Georgi Todorov Nedin, village of Zhdrebino, fined 30,000 lava.
O'eorgi Petrov, village of Zhdrebino, fined 10,000 lava.
Aleksandt, village of Popovo, 20,000 lava,
Petor Shutavkov, village of Popovo, 30,000 lava, as well as
ernme4tt and the deportation of his family to 9rachansko.
Atisaw-a iaotov, village of Popovo, 5,000 lava because as preei-
thp' village soviet he did not make sufficient collections
4674.
11
:thii government. He was replaced.
(l$;) Delcho Andreev, village of Mamarchevo, 10,000 lava.
(19) ghristo, teacher from the village of Bolyarovo, was fined three
times, a total of 60,000 lava.
..(20) Rusi Dimchev, fined six times, a total of 100,000 lava,
(21) Stoyu Dzhenkov, fined 10,000 lava.
(22) Chervenakov, 10,000 lava, and sentenced to a year and a half
imprisonment, in the Sliven prison.
All sums owned by the government for the compulsory deliveries were kept in
payment of taxes owed to the Bulgarian National Bank Practically the whole
population owed the bank for land, fines, etc., so that after the deliveries
the peasants were left with neither grain nor money.
12. Before the farmers had recovered from their desperation over the measures mentioned
above, a new decree came out guaranteeing farmers who would join cooperatives
food, feed, and seeds, while those who refused to join'or who operated more than
seven decares., were excluded from any support, including loans from the Bulgarian
National Bank,
13.
Threatened by starvation and violence, and only for this reason, the farmers
joined the cooperatives an masse hoping that they would receive help from the
State. Hence b the end of 1950 there were already over 1,700 cooperatives,
embracing over 50 percent of the land and of the farm families. In Blkhovo
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Okoliya, from 25 cooperatives with 1,260 members, operating 36,000 decares
or five percent of the land, the cooperatives grew until by the and of 1950
there were 43 of them, with more than 6,000 members managing 360,000 decares
of land, 80,000 sheep, 10,000 head of cattle, i.e., over 60 percent of the
land and farms in the okoliya.
14. However, immediately after their entry into the cooperatives a new decree was
enacted demanding of each member 20 kilograms of grain per decree for seed, and
15 kilograms of grain for each head of stock. Those who were not able to comply
with the decree, although they had turned over all their worldly belongings to
the cooperatives, were excluded from them and literally turned out on the street
like beggars. This represented about 20 percent of the cooperative members in
the Elkhovo Okoliya, who today are a miserable group of hungry, half-naked, and
barefoot individuals, seeking occasional work so that they can keep body and
soul together.
15. The cooperatives have no credits to advance to their members, and even those who
can work do not have the necessary tools and equipment with which to earn a
livelihood.
i6. The results achieved during 1950 by the cooperatives, althoughthese received
generous backing from the State and cultivated the best soil, have been highly
unsatisfactory and discouraging to the members of Bulgarian society. .?or
ale, in Elkhovo Okoliya, the best record was achieved by the cooperative
in he Qillage of izgrev. A working day was compensated at the rate of 49 lava,
5 akilograms of vegetables, one kilogram of rye, 0.500 kilograms of oats and
'parley, and 0.100 kilograms of sunflower seeds. Taking into consideration the
market prices for these items, one may figure the work day at 199 lava, and
since there are on the average 250 work days, the income of the cooperative
may be considered 210,000 lava for the year.
17. In the cooperative, for example, in the village of Voden,.the work day was
,an fights in the cooperative offices, on the streets, and in the fields.
the. cooperative il the village of Zhrebino at. 145 lava, while the cooperative
in, the village of' Popov. concluded the year with a lose of 51 lava per work day.
These seBuk a discourage the cooperative members and produce daily quarrels
Karavelovr, which had been a virtual breadbasket at 134 lava per work day,
Laikovaper work dayp the cooperative at the village of
computed in money and kind at 72 lava, the cooperative in the village of
18 The administrative staff, the representatives, and the brigadiers of the
cooperatives are all thorough-going Communists who dispose of the land, stock,'
and tools of the cooperatives as if these were their private property'. ?or
example, at the cooperative in the village of Sharkovo it is a known fact that
the.administrative staff ate up 99 sheep during the winter. At the cooperativel.
in the village of Strandzha thb - administrgtive staff together :pitt t e:,~- td.eat,
Prodan.Domuechiev, and the former president of the Okoliya soviet, Dimo Kostov,
every day slaughter sheep belonging to the cooperative and eat and drink lavishly
at the cost of the cooperative, while at the same time the stock there is dying
off for lack of feed. In the SharkoTo village cooperative 1,260 sheep died, out
of .a total of 5,000, and at least 1,500 are sure to die. At the Popovo village
cooperative, furthermore, out of 77 horses 42 died,and the rest are dying off
gradually.
19.., On 16 7ebruary 1951, a committee was formed consisting of a professor of
veterinayr medicine, Dr. Dobrev, Okoliya veterinary, from the city of Elkhovo;
Dr. Andrev, in charge of the veterinary clinic in the city of Elkhovo; Dr. Andreev,
assistant professor of the Sofia University medical faculty; and a:,representative.
of -the State Insurance Institute.
that as a result of starvation and poor management all the sheep on the cooperative,
which . w vieibed was the village of Sharkovo cooperative. The committee found
The task of the above committee was to investigate the cooperatives. The first one
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totalling 5,000, which had not received a single gram of fodder up to that
time, were ill with the %Vlas" disease (Vlas means hair - perhaps a hair
disorder is meant), as a result of which 683 sheep and 580 lambs had died
between 1 January and 16 February 1951.
.21. At the cooperative in'the village of Sitovo during the same period and for the
r
d t
t
b
-
o su
e
e expec
ease reasons, 40O sheep died, and an equal number could not
vive. The total number of sheep owned by the cooperative was 4,000.
At the Popov' 111age cooperative-there were 77 horses, of which only three would
be.with` foal by spring.
Cooperatives both in the cities and in the villages were being used and exploited.
he 1lkhoTo city workers cooperative, which before 9 September 1944 had 27
and today has 220.' This cooperative came to the sad realization that they
me bars
,
ended 1 48 with a deficit of 24,000,000 lava, 1949 with a deficit of 42,000.000
Ieva, and according to the president the year 1950 would and with an additional
41,000 000 lava lose. These deficits are the result of both inefficiency and the
depredations of Party officials.
24. The cooperative in the village of Srem before 1944 was held up as a model for
others to follow. In 1950 it ended with a deficit of 1,024,009 lava,.
L5} The cooperative in the village of Yoden is headed by the well-known Communist,
Georgi Yellin. He falsified the accounts, and used the materials intended for a
solf.F There was also a shortage of 10,000 liters of wine and 5,000 liters of
.ingrediente for'the making of raki. Consequently the cooperative completed the
wear with a 26900,000 deficit. Instead of being imprisoned, Fedin was decorated
w h ~~ awarda& bry,the Praesi&ium of the National Assembly, carrying with
It a cash emolument of 200,000 levant All the cooperatives in the okoliya built
the people?e love and work are in such bad condition that they will be bank-
The industrial combine of the Okoliya soviet in the city of 8lkhovo takes in 24
nationalized enterprises, four rolling mills, three creameries, three carding
installations, a brick and ceramics factory, and so forth. When these factories
were privately owned, they operated at a profit. At the present, however, the
director of the combine reports that 1950 was ended with a deficit of about
8,000,000 lever.
27. The Bulgarian Agricultural Cooperative Bank used to be, the mainstay of the country'
f araer. A part of its functions has been taken over by the soBalled. Investment
Bank, and another by the Bulgarian National Bank. The Bulgarian National Bank is
supposed to'handle all private, cooperative, and public financing, and yet for thia
purpose it has assets amounting to only 80,000,000 lava. By contrast, the defunct
Bulgarian Agricultural Cooperative Bank, at the time of its closing, had one
account which itself amounted to 400 - 500 million lava. This figure is sufficient
to. indicate that the activity of the Bulgarian National Bank is almost nil, and
that it is in effect little else but a cashier for state funds. The VetpuLarN
Bankin the City of Nlkhovo, after making paupers out of enterprises and business
men, has been entirely inactive and faces liquidation.
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