The country has rich mineral resources, a skilled work force,[4] a developed and improving transportation network and educational infrastructure, and a relatively stable political and economic climate.

Industry in Bulgaria can be traced back to 1833 when the Bulgarian industrialist Dobri Zhelyazkov opened the first modern factory in the Balkans at Sliven.

The main market for Bulgarian manufactured goods was Comecon, the Communist economic organization (comparable to the EU).

Industrialisation before the independence in 1878 was largely concentrated around the major towns of Plovdiv, Gabrovo, Ruse, Sliven, Karlovo, Sofia and Samokov.

These early companies were mostly small firms with a handful of workers, involved in light manufacture producing high-end goods such as textiles, soap, alcohol, wine and leather products.

[5] After the Liberation of Bulgaria the new country settled upon a low tariff regime and as a result local industry suffered from the increased import of cheaper and high-quality goods from more developed producers in Western Europe.

A number of protectionist laws passed by the government in the 1890s and early 20th century led to an increase in industrial output.

At this time Bulgaria received an inflow of foreign capital largely from Germany, Belgium and Austria-Hungary which was focused mainly in mining and agricultural processing industries.

At the beginning of World War II only five cities, Sofia, Plovdiv, Ruse, Varna and Burgas, accounted for 46.5% of all industrial output.

[7] Manufacturing was still predominantly light and export focused: textiles, leather, footwear and perishables such as tobacco, sugar, butter and meat were produced in large quantities.

The country's scientific and technical base was not neglected; new schools and universities were built which fed directly into the expanding industrial economy.

The national economy was integrated in Comecon and Bulgaria specialized in the production of electronics, motor trucks and tinned food.

On 10 April 1979, Bulgaria became the sixth nation in the world to send a man into space using the Soviet Intercosmos program.

[11] Due to lack of investment, the high-tech component of the Bulgarian economy went into terminal decline, undercut by more modern Asian imports and the collapse of Comecon.

Bulgaria is the primary exporter of electricity in south-eastern Europe as well as a major transit country for Russian oil and gas.

[16] Before the beginning of the 1950s, the metallurgic industry of Bulgaria did not include the whole production cycle, and as of 1939, the sector accounted for as little of 0.5% of the national GDP.