Word: bulgaria
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...prices and curtailed world markets at the very moment when the Soviet Union, still the East Europeans' major trading partner, has cut back sharply on oil deliveries to its former allies and reduced its purchases of their goods. In Hungary angry motorists have blockaded roads and bridges; in Bulgaria the government has been forced to order sharp cuts in the power supply. The oil crisis has made it impossible to shut down Soviet-built nuclear reactors in Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia that Western experts consider unsafe. "The gulf crisis couldn't have come at a worse time for Eastern Europe," says...
...region's most immediate problems is a level of indebtedness to the West far beyond the ability of most countries to repay. Bankrupt Bulgaria has simply stopped paying interest and capital on its $10.8 billion debt, while Poland, with $41 billion, and Hungary, with $21 billion, have been forced to reschedule or restructure their debts. The shock of full-speed-ahead economic reform in Poland has lowered real incomes by as much as 40% this year; thus there is particular resentment at the debt incurred during the communist years. These nations want more forgiveness from the West. "At this stage...
When angry Hungarian taxi drivers and truckers blocked roads after a gasoline price rise of 65%, the government backed off: the increase was halved, and officials agreed to consult with unions and other parties on price hikes. Similar protests have erupted in Bulgaria, where electricity is rationed as much as 12 hours a day and store shelves are barer than they were before the collapse of communism. There are even long lines for candles. Two weeks ago, the government announced a 100-day crash program aimed at reviving the crippled economy; the scheme includes some price liberalization and partial convertibility...
...that the Soviet Union might be forfeiting a potential gain of as much as $1 billion by cutting off sales of arms and agricultural products to Iraq. Several East European countries with crumbling economies will be burdened by the chunks of uncollectible Iraqi debt they hold. Worst off are Bulgaria, which carries $1.2 billion, and Romania, which is owed $1.7 billion...
...many of the same territories the Kremlin sought to dominate when Joseph Stalin expanded the bounds of Soviet power after World War II. At the zenith of the empire, in the reign of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in the 16th century, the Turks controlled most of present-day Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Yugoslavia. Parts of the U.S.S.R. were also Ottoman possessions: the Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea, as well as the Caucasus, which include the strife-torn Soviet republics of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan...