of pro-Democratic parties), Ivan KOSTOV; People's Union
(PU), Stefan SAVOV; Movement for Rights and Freedoms (mainly ethnic
Turkish party) (MRF), Ahmed DOGAN; Bulgarian Business Bloc (BBB),
George GANCHEV

Other political or pressure groups: Democratic Alliance for the
Republic (DAR); New Union for Democracy (NUD); Ecoglasnost; Podkrepa
Labor Confederation; Fatherland Union; Bulgarian Communist Party
(BCP); Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (KNSB);
Bulgarian Agrarian National Union - United (BZNS); Bulgarian
Democratic Center; "Nikola Petkov" Bulgarian Agrarian National
Union; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Union of
Macedonian Societies (IMRO-UMS); numerous regional, ethnic, and
national interest groups with various agendas

International organization participation: ACCT, BIS, BSEC, CCC,
CE, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU,
ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarset, Intelsat (nonsignatory
user), Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, OSCE,
PCA, PFP, UN, UNAVEM III, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMOT, UPU, WEU
(associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant), ZC

Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Snezhana Damianova BOTUSHAROVA
chancery: 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 387-7969
FAX: [1] (202) 234-7973

US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant)
embassy: 1 Saborna Street, Sofia
mailing address: Unit 1335, APO AE 09213-1335
telephone: [359] (2) 88-48-01 through 05
FAX: [359] (2) 80-19-77

Flag: three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red;
the national emblem formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe
has been removed - it contained 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
-------

Economic overview: One of the poorest countries of central Europe,
Bulgaria has continued the difficult process of moving from its old
command economy to a modern, market-oriented economy. GDP rose a
moderate 2.4% in 1995; inflation was down sharply; and unemployment
fell from an estimated 16% to 12%. Despite this progress, structural
reforms necessary to underpin macroeconomic stabilization were not
purs