Survey: Unemployment Plagues Bulgaria's Countryside Sofia_News_Agency - 2005/6/8
The jobless rate at Bulgaria's villages is about 35%, a recent survey cited by the press has shown.
People from 50 villages in 14 different regions said that the local economy and the infrastructure were undeveloped.
More than 80% of the enquired said they were making a living on agriculture only because they had no alternative.
Meanwhile, farming has proved to be inefficient and unprofitable because of the hampered modernization and the low purchase prices of agricultural produce, the Vitosha Research survey has shown.
Another major problem for the prosperity of rural areas is the migration, the polling agency has said.
Its survey has shown that a large number of Bulgarians, most of them young ones, are moving from the countryside to the major cities looking for jobs.