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A far-sighted decision by the Kardzhali rulers to allow German investment in the late 1930s made the small, remote town one of the main centers of the mineral industry in the Balkans. Until then, the city liberated in 1912 had several thousand inhabitants. The main occupation is tobacco processing and trading. Kardzhali is a province for the deaf and officials sent from within the country rarely stay in the city. Communications in the area are difficult and therefore the main transport of goods is carried out by camels.
Interest in Kardzhali and the Eastern Rhodope region arose in the mid-1920s. According to archival documents, in 1926 Professor Herbert and G. Uffer conducted research in the Rhodopes and established the presence of polymetallic minerals. In the period 1928-1935 a geological map of the mineral deposits was made. Even then, the businessmen kept the perimeters. The largest of these is the Bulgarian company with Swiss participation “Granitoid”. Later, in 1939, it became part of the largest mining corporation “Pirin”. In addition to Granitoid, its shareholders are the German companies Schoaberger Zinc, Otto Wolf and Felten and Guillaume. Pirin’s share capital is BGN 70 million, but it was quickly increased to BGN 250 million.
Initially, the company intends to operate in Mastanli / today Momchilgrad /. The reason is that at that time the city was the largest in the area and a railway was built next to it. line. From “Pirin” they are carrying out actions before the municipal administration for the purchase of a plot of 50 decares, on which to build production capacities. After a short deliberation, Mastanli managers rejected the investor’s offer. The reason is that the land of interest is a measure and the locals graze their cattle. Following the refusal, the mining company started talks with the Kardzhali rulers. On this occasion, the Kardzhali newspaper “Ardinska Duma” writes: “German engineers, accompanied by an engineer from the company” Granitoid “visited Kardzhali and examined the possible places where to build factories and other buildings for the separation of metal from mineral ore. lead-copper, which “Will be excavated on the perimeters of the Granitoid company near the village of Madan. Initially, about 50 decars of space will be needed. It is good that the municipality makes all the facilities for the accommodation of the company “.
The municipal government is quick to estimate that if it hands over land to the company, it will employ more than 1,000 people and boost the development of the city, turning it into a modern industrial center.
“Another serious step is being taken to develop mineral resources in the Eastern Rhodopes, as the center of which the city of Kardzhali is being established. We wish the new company expansion and success,” the newspaper said.
The land determined in late 1939 is located on the outskirts of Kardzhali, on the left bank of the Arda River. At that time it was occupied by gardens. The land was bought from Pirin and in 1940 the construction activity began.
Railways are being built. a line that connects the land with the railway station, workshops, flotation factory, thermal power plant, diesel power plant, workshops and others. The industrial settlement has a constructed area of 15,000 square meters. At the same time, the construction of a cable car began. It is 48 kilometers long, with the lowest elevation 230 meters and the highest 1200 meters above sea level. The cable car solves the problem of bad mountain roads and is the cheapest way to transport the ore to the concentrator. The facility was used until the early 1990s, when it was scrapped.
In parallel with the construction of production facilities, residential buildings are being constructed. Villas overlooking Arda were built for the company’s top management, which still exist today. A hotel for German specialists was built. It is luxurious and in front of it the first swimming pool of the Rhodopes was built, which was preserved until the early 70s. The residential buildings have a total area of 1500 square meters. A laboratory and a health service have also been built.
All construction is carried out by the Sofia company “Cyclops” under the direct supervision of the CEO of “Pirin” Dr. Kepler. All the equipment for the future plant was delivered from Germany, including the metal cables and cable car parts. The installation of the machines is carried out by German specialists.
It is being built at a rapid rate, because the Third Reich needs ore concentrate for metal production. A year and a half after the start of construction, in August 1941 the production facilities began to operate. The lead-zinc and pyrite concentrates produced are loaded into compositions and shipped to Germany. The number of employees in Kardzhali is 722. According to the notes of the local journalist and historian Mara Mihaylova, kept in the Kardzhali archives, 85 people are employed in the flotation factory. The cable line is serviced by 160 workers. 7 specialists work in the “Pirin” laboratory. The company also had a health service with 3 medical personnel who cared for the workers. However, due to the war, the social benefits are very limited. The deprivations became a reason for growing discontent among the “Pirin” workers. Attempts were made to organize 3 strikes, of which only the strike against poor food quality was successful.
Due to social tensions and the potential danger of terrorist acts, the security measures are draconian. According to the memoirs of the flotation factory machine mechanic Nikola Medarov, which are stored in the Kardzhali archives, the site was guarded by German soldiers dressed in Bulgarian coats. They managed to prevent the factory from exploding in March 1942.
“The German guards noticed that a man was moving and following the man the moment he wanted to detonate, the German soldier attacked him. The worker was stronger and pushed him into the narrow channel behind the mill, seriously injuring his arm and shoulders. and managed to escape across the river in thick fog, “wrote Medarov in his memoirs.
After the failed attempt at a terrorist act, the Communist Party sent special agent provocateur Alexi Mishev – Sando to Kardzhali. He started working in a flotation factory, and his task was to sabotage the production of concentrates through sabotage. Sando managed to carry out several small sabotages, but due to the danger of failure he was removed from Kardzhali. The monument to the agent provocateur, erected in the 1960s, still stands at the main entrance of the company.
In order to alleviate the situation of its employees at least a little, the company management regularly sends requests to the Chief Supply Commissioner in Sofia. In one of them, dated November 20, 1942, 214 pairs of shoes were requested for the workers.
“Most of our workers, in transportation, loading of ore and freighters of coal and other materials, work in the open air, in constant humidity, mud, etc … That is why many of our workers get sick and leave us. For example, today since only 42 workers appeared to load the 19 ”concentrate, it is noted in the company’s application.
From the archives it is clear that the living conditions of the Germans were not good either. Markscheider technician Paul Kurtman wrote from Kardzhali to his beloved Clara in Germany: “… I want to tell you that I came across a town called Kardzhali. It would be better to walk through it with some heavy pupils. And to remove this stain on the ground, breeding ground for miasmas and disease. There is no drinking water, if there is any – it is neglected. There is no food – if there is, it is given with coupons. Misery – fantastic, unimaginable. “
The domestic problems of the Germans were solved in the late summer of 1944. In August, the foreigners begin to collect their belongings in chests. They leave secretly the night of August 25-26. Along with them, Bulgarians in leadership positions disappeared. The management of production is in the hands of an interim management, which includes the workers.
With a decision of the Berlin Conference for the payment of repairs of the German assets of the Pirin Company in 1946. they were transferred to the property of the USSR. In May 1949 the Soviet-Bulgarian Mining and Mining Society GORUBSO / Gorno-rudnoe Bulgarian-Soviet Society / was established. Starting in October 1955, the USSR transferred its share of the capital of GORUBSO to Bulgaria. In 1956, a lead-zinc plant started operations in Kardzhali, where the ore concentrate is processed.
Today, GORUBSO-KARDZHALI is still one of the structural companies in the region, employing more than 500 people, but it already produces gold ore concentrate.
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