Electronics in the Bulgarian Economic Policy during 60-s - 80-s years of the Twentieth century

Abstract

The object of the present research is the policy carried out by the Bulgarian state and party leadership for the establishment and development of a new high-tech sector in the state economy, which was of significant economic, social, and psychological importance—the electronics industry. The development of the electronics industry can be divided into two clearly defined periods: the first period, spanning the 1960s, marked the formation of state policy, establishment of technological equipment, and the specialization of the state in the electronics field within the COMECON framework. The second period, covering the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s, saw the electronic industry grow into a crucial sector of the Bulgarian economy. This phase also involved the challenges related to its maintenance and efficiency. From the early 1970s, the state began making significant investments in this industry, which resulted in substantial production capacity and the establishment of research institutes in the following areas: microelectronics, computing devices, mini-computing devices, microprocessing computer systems and instruments, disk and tape peripheral systems, optical electronics, and others. The electronics industry, alongside several other sectors of the Bulgarian economy, was effectively destroyed by the policy adopted by the new government during the transition from socialism to democracy and a market economy. The research is primarily based on unpublished documents from the archive of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party, the archive of the Council of Ministers, and part of the documentation from the State Committee for Science and Technical Progress, as well as the memoirs of key political and economic figures associated with the establishment and development of the electronics industry in Bulgaria.