In
1989 the Berlin Wall fell and the so-called “transition period”
for Central and Eastern Europe began. The goal pursued was a radical
change of society at economic, political and social level. In
relation to this, Bulgaria endorsed a variety of development
programs, which were manipulated by the two supranational
institutions – the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The country was quickly encompassed by a wide network of
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) whose number amounts nowadays
to 38,000. The UN agencies, supranational authorities and NGOs
organized and coordinated Bulgaria’s transition through the same
methods, ideas and language, which were being used for the Third
World Countries by that time.
by
Daniela Penkova
PART
2 - The situation in Bulgaria in 1989
When on the 10th of November 1989 the evening news
announced Todor Zhivkov’s resignation from the country’s
leadership, the Bulgarian people were sincerely surprised. Although
the Berlin Wall had fallen the day before, the Wind of Change had not
yet been felt in Bulgaria. But the news evoked great hopes within
people – perhaps the moment for democracy had finally come. Soon
the Union of the newborn Democratic Parties was proclaimed and the
date for the first free elections was set.
Hopes concerned mostly the political freedom. Until that
day it was practically impossible to express any right-wing ideas in
Bulgaria since capitalism was branded as an unjust and exploiting
system. The ownership of the means of production in industry was
entirely in the hands of the state. Only the agricultural
cooperatives and the craftsmen were independent but their sole client
was again the state. Those who would insist on private ownership of
the means of production were persecuted. Only a handful of people
dared to openly claim such thing. The only exception were the
dissidents, collaborating with forbidden in Bulgaria Western media.
One such media was radio “Free Europe” financed since 1950 by the
US Congress through CIA with the official purpose of “popularizing
the democratic institutions and values by propagation of information
and ideas.” One of the most exploited arguments of the radio
supporting the capitalistic way of production was the so-called
“poverty” in the Socialist countries which were being compared to
the Western countries and foremost to the US. That is why it is
necessary to take a look at the available data in order to better
understand the economic condition of Bulgaria on the eve of the
transition.
Most appropriate for the purpose are the World Bank’s
and FAO’s statistics for 1989: Population of 8.878 million people
with GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of 2449 dollars per capita. A
positive trade balance of +877.1 million dollars. The hospital beds
were 970.2 per each 100,000 citizens, which surpassed substantially
the average of the European Union with 15 member countries which was
777.4 per each 100,000 citizens.
Manufacture was industrialized and over 80% (per cent)
of the production came from industry. Only 10% of the whole
production came from the so-called traditional economy –
agriculture. While according to the West the main reason for poverty
in the Third World countries was the lack of industrialization, the
same was not true for Bulgaria. However it did not stop the
supranational institutions from demanding from the country the same
reforms which they had been imposing on the developing countries for
decades.
Source
and references:
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