is to be rebuilt and modernized. Production
problems at this mine have not yet been solved satisfactorily.
Coal-bearing strata have not been fully identified; equipment is
utilized to only about 40 percent of capacity; and the organization of
labor is poor. Substantial improvement also remains to be attained in
processing the coal for market, in view of its high ash and moisture
content. Unsolved problems also remain in the manufacture of coal
briquettes.

In the 1971-75 period substantial investment is to be devoted to the
expansion and modernization of coal mines. New mines with an annual
capacity of about 4 million tons are to be built. Three-fourths of the
investment funds are to be concentrated on three major production
centers. The relative investment shares of these centers were planned to
be: Maritsa-Iztok complex, 41 percent; Bobov Dol complex, 25 percent;
and the Georgi Dimitrov mine at Pernik, 10 percent.

Production of marketable coal increased by 83 percent in the 1960-70
period to a level of about 29 million tons. The rise in output, however,
was confined to lignite production, which grew more than fourfold during
the decade. Production of bituminous and brown coal declined by 42 and
32 percent, respectively. Output of anthracite in 1970 equaled the
output in 1960 but was 9 percent below the production level in 1966.
Production of both anthracite and bituminous coal amounted to less than
400,000 tons in 1970. Strip mining has steadily grown in importance and
accounted for 73 percent of the output in 1970.

The Sixth Five-Year Plan (1971-75) calls for a rise in coal output to 33
million tons--an increase of about 13 percent. In the view of the
minister of heavy industry, the planned increase is not large, but its
attainment is difficult considering the character and condition of the
mines. Experience has justified the minister's assessment. In the first
two years of the five-year period, coal output rose by less than 1
percent.

Crude Oil and Natural Gas

Deposits of crude oil are located at Tyulenovo in the Dobrudzha region
and at Dolni Dubnik, east of Pleven. Natural gas fields have been
discovered near Vratsa and in the area of Lovech, south of Pleven.
Reliable information on the magnitude of crude oil and natural gas
reserves is not available. Statistics on current imports and official
projections of import requirements, however, indicate that domestic
production of oil and natural gas will cont