Balkan Cyberia by Victor Petrov

Author:Victor Petrov
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MIT Press

FROM PERSONAL COMPUTERS TO SUPERCOMPUTERS: THE 1980S

Bulgaria entered the 1980s with a renewed purpose and a heightened profile. This was thanks to the singular figure of Liudmila Zhivkova and her cultural diplomatic offensive. Her fascination with India was a cornerstone of her unique cultural policy that opened up the country to the world in particular ways, and her links with India were paralleled by a close relationship with Indira Gandhi herself. Her efforts resulted in the 1977 creation of a Bulgarian cultural center in Delhi, with a rich cultural program.143 India was one of the last countries Zhivkova visited before her untimely death in 1981.144 All this was a welcome boon for the electronics industry, which had matured by the early 1980s and could offer robots, PCs, computer-controlled machines for industry, and newer Winchester-type discs.

Buoyed by licenses, domestic work, and espionage efforts, many production problems had been ironed out, and by 1981–1982, Izotimpex had started a much more targeted and self-confident campaign in specialized Indian publications.145 Much had been learned from contact with Western and Indian firms during its entry to the Santacruz Electronics Export Proessing Zone (SEEPZ) in Mumbai.146 SEEPZ was set up in 1973 and offered tax benefits and other incentives to promote foreign investment and technology. It was a place for Izotimpex to try out its new visual and advertising material before pushing to new heights (for it), such as participation in a three-page spread on Bulgarian engineering in the India Express.147 The embassy also pushed for, and got, the whole November 1981 issue of the specialist journal East European Trade dedicated to Bulgarian economic development, coinciding with the country’s gargantuan campaign to celebrate its 1300th anniversary. This issue presented the country as an advanced industrial state and a world leader in per capita production in electronic hardware (in fact, it was third).148 It praised Comecon specialization as the right way to divide labor between states, and saw its cooperation as a model for all technological dealings between states.149 This specialization allowed Bulgarian trade with the developing world to grow 37-fold between 1960 and 1980, with over 500 projects being realized in various countries, and 20 types of major electronics entering these markets. The mastery of the scientific-technical revolution by Bulgaria was the basis for such an advancement, especially in industrial engineering and electronics: Bulgaria was now a desired technology partner.150 The rosy picture was the effect of the sector’s growth over the previous decade, but also of course belied the quality of products on offer.

4.1   Bulgaria’s new image in East European Trade (Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archive, Sofia.)

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