-Soviet
Friendship; Union of Democratic Forces, a coalition of about a
dozen dissident groups; numerous regional and national interest
groups with various agendas

Member of: CCC, CEMA, FAO, IAEA, IBEC, ICAO, ILO, ILZSG, IMO,
IPU, ITC, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, UN, UNESCO, UPU,
Warsaw Pact, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Velichko Filipov VELICHKOV;
Chancery at 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 387-7969;
US--Ambassador Sol POLANSKY; Embassy at 1 Alexander Stamboliski Boulevard,
Sofia (mailing address is APO New York 09213); telephone p359o (2) 88-48-01
through 05

Flag: three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red with the
national emblem on the hoist side of the white stripe; the emblem contains a
rampant lion within a wreath of wheat ears below a red five-pointed star and
above a ribbon bearing the dates 681 (first Bulgarian state established) and
1944 (liberation from Nazi control)

- Economy
Overview: Growth in the sluggish Bulgarian economy fell to the
2% annual level in the 1980s, and by 1989 Sofia's foreign debt had
skyrocketed to $10 billion--giving a debt service ratio of more
than 40% of hard currency earnings. The post-Zhivkov regime
faces major problems of renovating an aging industrial plant,
keeping abreast of rapidly unfolding technological developments,
investing in additional energy capacity (the portion of electric
power from nuclear energy reached 37% in 1988), and motivating workers,
in part by giving them a share in the earnings of their enterprises.
A major decree of January 1989 summarized and extended
the government's economic restructuring efforts, which include a partial
decentralization of controls over production decisions and foreign trade.
The new regime promises more extensive reforms and eventually a market
economy. But the ruling group cannot (so far) bring itself to give
up ultimate control over economic affairs exercised through the vertical
Party/ministerial command structure. Reforms have not
led to improved economic performance, in particular the provision of more
and better consumer goods. A further blow to the economy was the exodus
of 310,000 ethnic Turks in mid-1989, which caused temporary shortages
of skilled labor in glassware, aluminum, and other industrial plants
and in tobacco fields.

GNP: $51.2 billion, per capita $5,710; real growth rate - 0.1%
(1989 est.)

Inflation rate (cons