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Before the 90s, Bulgaria was manufacturing almost everything, it had its problems, but it functioned from what we've been told. Afterwards every single factory

Before the 90s, Bulgaria was manufacturing almost everything, it had its problems, but it functioned from what we've been told. Afterwards every single factory was shuttered, sold to individuals for the equivalent of a dollar. After the borders were opened up, we experienced a huge outflow and all the smart people left. We are now a fast shrinking country, poor and even today the political scene is a joke.

neals 3y ago
Love the wine though. Had an amazing trip through the amazing wine country last summer. Such beautiful scenery.
mrtksn 3y ago
If everything was great why people brought down the system? Is it maybe because everything worked thanks to having customer(the USSR) for ideological reasons and not because it was actually competitive or good? Maybe this was the reason why the factories and everything shut down when USSR was gone? IMHO the ideological markets are very dangerous, gives you the wrong feedback on your output and makes you completely reliant. USSR pumps oil, digs minerals and uses the income from that to purchase stuff from Bulgaria not because Bulgaria is the best(it might have been the best or very good at one point) but because politics. Then Bulgaria doesn't have proper feedback and instead of investing to advance its computer business keeps doing the same when the west with their real markets leaps ahead. Then one day the only customer who bought Bulgarian stuff for ideological reasons is gone and Bulgaria finds out that they don't have any customers anymore because they didn't invest in advancing their tech because they didn't need to. Unfortunately, the west today has a similar problem of ideology based markets but its nowhere nearly as bad as the situation in Communist Bulgaria. One argument might be, if the system worked why wouldn't keep doing it? Because its again very dangerous. If the USSR survived and Bulgaria was kept being the tech powerhouse of USSR with a few nodes behind the state of the art, Bulgaria might have been compelled to send the troops for the invasions USSR might have started because that's how empires work(Bulgarian economy collapsing the moment Russia decides not buying from Bulgaria since it disobeys). Notice that the Russian soldiers in Ukraine come from far eastern regions of the Russian federation, that would have been the fate of Bulgaria today.
- acd1357 3y ago
  The factories went bankrupt because of corruption as far as I know. An often cited scheme in the press was that the management will buy raw materials at higher than normal prices and sell the products at low prices, of course in exchange for bribes. Other sectors of the economy were similarly brought down in various ways. Trade was not done only with the Eastern Bloc, so you can’t blame everything on the loss of those markets. The people who wanted democracy didn’t anticipate all that corruption and lack of accountability.
  - mrtksn 3y ago
    The economy was organised around USSR and suddenly it didn't made sense anymore once USSR was gone. The corruption on epic scale happened when restructuring was going on. The restructuring had to happen, but of course it shouldn't have had been handled that bad.
- thriftwy 3y ago
  > Bulgaria might have been compelled to send the troops for the invasions USSR might have started List of countries which happily participated in USA's invasion of Iraq wants to say hello!
  - softg 3y ago
    A list that includes Bulgaria, funnily enough
  - mrtksn 3y ago
    Hello to the list too. How many Bulgarians died in Iraq? That would be 13 soldiers. Unfortunate but that's really not the same as being a tool of an empire. The American way works the other way around, they usually are for free market until you sell its enemies weapons or help finance the war. They also do questionable things but IMHO it's a much better deal overall.
    - thriftwy 3y ago
pkphilip 3y ago
What is the agricultural scene like in Bulgaria? Thriving or is it mostly food imports?
- farmdve 3y ago
  Food imports AND exports. Bulgarian farmers also heavily rely on subsidies. I know a few of them. Some drive very expensive cars, others 25 year old beaters. I cannot explain the discrepancy. However I can also say that because of climate change, certain regions are now experiencing drought, I can specifically mention the far South-East near the border to Turkey. Rural villages are dying, but also lacking water, there is almost no water underground and it rains less and less, and the winters are no longer even winters. Wells fill up only once during winter and are emptied out within a few weeks before the crops even grow and produce fruit.
  - pkphilip 3y ago
    Thank you so much for your reply

neals 3y ago

Love the wine though. Had an amazing trip through the amazing wine country last summer. Such beautiful scenery.

mrtksn 3y ago

If everything was great why people brought down the system? Is it maybe because everything worked thanks to having customer(the USSR) for ideological reasons and not because it was actually competitive or good? Maybe this was the reason why the factories and everything shut down when USSR was gone? IMHO the ideological markets are very dangerous, gives you the wrong feedback on your output and makes you completely reliant. USSR pumps oil, digs minerals and uses the income from that to purchase stuff from Bulgaria not because Bulgaria is the best(it might have been the best or very good at one point) but because politics. Then Bulgaria doesn't have proper feedback and instead of investing to advance its computer business keeps doing the same when the west with their real markets leaps ahead. Then one day the only customer who bought Bulgarian stuff for ideological reasons is gone and Bulgaria finds out that they don't have any customers anymore because they didn't invest in advancing their tech because they didn't need to. Unfortunately, the west today has a similar problem of ideology based markets but its nowhere nearly as bad as the situation in Communist Bulgaria. One argument might be, if the system worked why wouldn't keep doing it? Because its again very dangerous. If the USSR survived and Bulgaria was kept being the tech powerhouse of USSR with a few nodes behind the state of the art, Bulgaria might have been compelled to send the troops for the invasions USSR might have started because that's how empires work(Bulgarian economy collapsing the moment Russia decides not buying from Bulgaria since it disobeys). Notice that the Russian soldiers in Ukraine come from far eastern regions of the Russian federation, that would have been the fate of Bulgaria today.

acd1357 3y ago
The factories went bankrupt because of corruption as far as I know. An often cited scheme in the press was that the management will buy raw materials at higher than normal prices and sell the products at low prices, of course in exchange for bribes. Other sectors of the economy were similarly brought down in various ways. Trade was not done only with the Eastern Bloc, so you can’t blame everything on the loss of those markets. The people who wanted democracy didn’t anticipate all that corruption and lack of accountability.
- mrtksn 3y ago
  The economy was organised around USSR and suddenly it didn't made sense anymore once USSR was gone. The corruption on epic scale happened when restructuring was going on. The restructuring had to happen, but of course it shouldn't have had been handled that bad.
thriftwy 3y ago
> Bulgaria might have been compelled to send the troops for the invasions USSR might have started List of countries which happily participated in USA's invasion of Iraq wants to say hello!
- softg 3y ago
  A list that includes Bulgaria, funnily enough
- mrtksn 3y ago
  Hello to the list too. How many Bulgarians died in Iraq? That would be 13 soldiers. Unfortunate but that's really not the same as being a tool of an empire. The American way works the other way around, they usually are for free market until you sell its enemies weapons or help finance the war. They also do questionable things but IMHO it's a much better deal overall.
  - thriftwy 3y ago

pkphilip 3y ago

What is the agricultural scene like in Bulgaria? Thriving or is it mostly food imports?

farmdve 3y ago
Food imports AND exports. Bulgarian farmers also heavily rely on subsidies. I know a few of them. Some drive very expensive cars, others 25 year old beaters. I cannot explain the discrepancy. However I can also say that because of climate change, certain regions are now experiencing drought, I can specifically mention the far South-East near the border to Turkey. Rural villages are dying, but also lacking water, there is almost no water underground and it rains less and less, and the winters are no longer even winters. Wells fill up only once during winter and are emptied out within a few weeks before the crops even grow and produce fruit.
- pkphilip 3y ago
  Thank you so much for your reply