Antonio D’Alessandri
The outcomes of the economic planning in Bulgaria and the commercial relations with Italy
Etudes balkaniques (Sofia) 2016 N 4
Abstract: The author deals with the economic and commercial relations between Bulgaria and Italy during the Fifties and the early Sixties of Twentieth century. The research is based on some archival documents of the Italian National Archives such as Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Foreign Trade papers. Even if the volume of the exchanges with Western Countries was small, Italy became, alongside with Western Germany and Austria, one of the most important commercial partners of Bulgaria in the West. From this documents it is also possible to have a look above Bulgarian society after the deep economic changes followed to the collectivization of the countries and the beginning of the heavy industrialization process. The economic relations with Western countries were a necessity for a system based on the soviet model and for Bulgaria they were also a tool to lighten the heavy international isolation.
Keywords: Bulgaria, Italy, Economic Relations, Communism, Foreign Trade