BULGARIA AS A FIELD FOR BRITISH
ENTERPRISE
Audiences of members of the Bulgarian Cabinet—Dr. Dimitri Stancioff,
Minister for Foreign Affairs, the coming man of Bulgaria—His
policy—Facts about the mineral wealth and mining laws—Advice to
traders and capitalists by the British Vice-Consul in Sofia—Our
methods as compared with those of other nations.
One of the objects of my observations being to point out where British
capital can, with advantage and security, be employed in the Balkans, I
made, while in Sofia, very careful and exhaustive inquiry.
Information was given me by the late Premier, M. D. Petkoff; the new
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Dimitri Stancioff; and by M.
Ghenadieff, the Minister of Commerce, who was also interesting himself
very actively in the Balkan Exhibition at Earl’s Court. To these three
members of the Bulgarian Cabinet, and to His Royal Highness Prince
Ferdinand himself, I have to acknowledge my thanks for placing all
information at my disposal. The Minister for Foreign Affairs deputed his
cousin, Monsieur D. M. Stancioff, of the Commercial Department of the
Ministry, to accompany me everywhere and explain everything. I was given
a perfectly free hand to go when and where I liked, and, as His
Excellency put it, “to see Bulgaria just as I pleased.”
The Bulgarians are nothing if not thoroughly businesslike. I was
particularly requested by the Ministers not to paint the country in
_couleur de rose_. One member of the Cabinet said, as I stood in the
corner of the ballroom of the Military Club one night, “We would like
the English to know exactly what they can find in Bulgaria, and how we
shall treat them. Don’t flatter us, and cause English capitalists to
expect too much. We have good paying investments for them—if they will
only come here.”
I took a good deal of trouble in going very minutely into this very
important question, and found the Government ready and eager to give
every facility to British capitalists to exploit the great mineral
wealth in their country. The mining laws are just, and extremely
favourable to secure absolute rights to those who invest. The Government
have established in Sofia a Mining Department under the Ministry of
Commerce, where specimens of ore may be seen, and where every
information can be obtained. By the courtesy of M. T. Michailowsky, the
able Director of this Department, I was afforded an opportunity of
inspecting the various collections, and was given much information of
intense interest.
It seems that up to the present time the Government have given
thirty-one concessions, mostly to French, Russian, Belgian, and Italian
capitalists. Of these, sixteen are for coal, four for copper, two for
manganese, two for iron, two for lead, two for zinc, and one for
oil-bearing minerals. There are no English companies in Bulgaria at
present, but I was informed by the Minister of Commerce that the
greatest attention would be paid to any serious application from
England. There are known to exist in the district of Bourgas, on the
Black Sea, very rich copper deposits, also in the Vraza district, and in
Belogradjik, near the Danube.
Two kinds of “permits for research” are granted by the Government. The
first—a general one to search in any part of Bulgaria—is given free, but
with a personal guarantee that any damage done will be made good. The
second is a permit for a special place, which must not be of greater
extent than 8,000,000 square metres, and for this is charged eighty
francs. This lasts for two years. After this time, if a concession is
desired, the Department make inquiries in order to see if the proposed
mine bears sufficient to justify its working. This having been
decided—which takes about a month, or at most two—the Prince issues a
decree, and the concession is granted for ever. No deposit is required,
but the Government takes, for each hectare, three francs per annum for
coals, and four francs per annum for minerals. They also tax the output
at the rate of one per cent. Machinery and material enter the country
free of duty, and as far as I was able to judge, the Bulgarians make
excellent workmen, being very sober, industrious, and obedient. At
present, however, there is large emigration, for there is not sufficient
work for the four and a half millions of people in the country.
[Illustration: HIS EXCELLENCY N. GHENADIEFF, Bulgarian Minister of
Commerce.]
One colliery is worked by the Government at Pernik, and this supplies
the railways, the city of Sofia, and the many industrial enterprises
with about 200,000 tons of excellent coal yearly. All the other mines
are just starting to work, and show prospects of splendid profits.
The copper mine at Vraza, which is exploited by Monsieur Maurocordato of
Constantinople—who has invested about 600,000 francs—has, in two years,
repaid itself, thus showing that there are mines in Bulgaria, and very
rich ones indeed.
All the concessions already granted show great futures, but
unfortunately, with the exception of the Vraza enterprise, the
concessionaires lack capital.
The Bulgarian Mining Law is a very liberal one, being an exception to
the laws of most other countries, for it has been drawn up specially to
induce the investment of foreign capital, as well as to secure the
interests of shareholders. The people of Bulgaria are not rich enough to
exploit their mines themselves, and for that reason the mining industry
of the country must of necessity be in the hands of the foreigner.
When making my inquiries, M. R. S. Kossef, Director of the Commercial
Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was most particular that
I should say nothing that was not absolutely true regarding the mines.
“We do not wish to attract capitalists to Bulgaria by means of
advertisement,” he said. “We wish them to know that they will here find
a good return for their investments, and that if they exploit our mines,
we, on our part, will treat them justly—even generously.”
Besides minerals, Bulgaria is extremely rich in mineral springs—the one
at Banki, seventeen kilometres from Sofia, being about to be exploited
this year, when a very handsome bath establishment and hotel are to be
constructed. The source is situated in the valley beneath the Lubin
mountain, and an automobile service is to be established with Sofia.
This spring gives 1200 litres a minute, and has been pronounced by a
number of first-class authorities in Germany and France to be a water
almost unexcelled in Europe. Other springs abound all over the country,
and so important are they, indeed, that the Government have issued a
large coloured map of them.
In Sofia itself, close to the old mosque, are well-known sulphur baths.
There is a project for building a bath establishment, but to do so it
would mean the pulling down of the mosque in question. The Turks would
not object so much if a new mosque could be built, but it seems that the
difficulties of construction are very great, so for the present the
matter remains in abeyance.
In the whole of Bulgaria over two hundred thermal and mineral springs
are known, and they are situated in eighty different districts. The
department of Sofia alone contains twenty-three, the warmest being at
Dolna-Banja. The more important of the others are at Kniajevo, Gorva,
Banja, and Pantcherevo. Then there are the renowned warm springs at
Verschetz, in the department of Vratza, while in the department of
Plovdiv (Philippopoli) there are more than forty springs, the principal
of them being at Hissar. This, perhaps the most reputed in all the
Orient, is situated in the valley of Tchepino, in the centre of the
Rhodopes Mountains. At Lidji, near Bourgas, and at Sliven, there are
establishments on the latest modern principle. Another which is being
actively exploited is the waters of Meritchteri, in Stara-Zagora, which
are declared by analysts to be quite equal to those of Carlsbad, and
which are believed to have a great future before them. Dr. Ernst Hintz,
of Wiesbaden, has written a book upon these particular waters, and has
given exhaustive analyses.
[Illustration: Early Morning in Sofia.]
[Illustration: On the road to the Shipka.]
There are also minor waters in the town of Kustendil and in dozens of
other villages and towns all over Bulgaria.
Again, to encourage intending pioneers of new branches of industry, it
is interesting to note that the industries in actual existence are
making great progress. The numerous spinning mills and cloth factories
in Eastern Roumelia have been enlarged, while the Varna Cotton Mill,
whose headquarters are in Manchester, employs nearly seven hundred
hands, and in 1905 paid a dividend of 10 per cent.
As regards British trade in Bulgaria, the attention of the English
manufacturer has been repeatedly drawn, in trade reports from the
Consulate in Sofia, to the energetic measures adopted by foreign
competitors to secure the Bulgarian market for themselves. As Germany’s
rivalry is by far the most formidable, it may be well to briefly
illustrate the methods by which that country is steadily absorbing the
trade of the Near East, as explained to me by Mr. Toulmin, British
Vice-Consul in Sofia. Not only do the principal German importers have
capable agents established in the more important towns throughout
Bulgaria to push the sale of their goods, but they also send at regular
intervals experienced travellers who thoroughly investigate the
commercial condition of the country in its various trade centres, take
note of the wants and requirements of the population, and enter into
direct relations with the retail trader. They are, moreover, instructed
to do business at any cost, and are authorised to give credit for a year
or even longer. By their readiness to accept the smallest order, by
scrupulously adhering to conditions and specifications, and by strictly
supplying goods according to sample approved, German importers are now
reaping the fruits of a painstaking and methodical commercial policy,
which menaces even Austria-Hungary’s hitherto unassailed supremacy. The
importance, therefore, of sending out to Bulgaria representatives with
some knowledge of French or German cannot be too strongly impressed on
British manufacturers. It may be well to mention that a gentleman,
representing a well-known Birmingham firm dealing in hardware, called at
the Consulate at Sofia a few months ago, and expressed himself as highly
satisfied with the result of his fortnight’s business tour in Bulgaria.
By the employment of commercial travellers, the translation of their
catalogues, if not into Bulgarian, at any rate into French or German,
the use of the metric system of weights and measures, the conversion of
sterling into francs and centimes, and by giving longer credit—by these
means only can British merchants hope to compete successfully with their
foreign rivals.
[Illustration: The Bulgarian Sobranje.]