CHAPTER II

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.

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.

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.