DEVELOPMENT OF THE MINING INDUSTRY IN BULGARIA IN THE PERIOD 1990 - 2020: AN OVERVIEW

The mining industry is often underestimated both in terms of its contribution to the economy and its development prospects. However, mining and the mining industry have been the basis of the growth of the Bulgarian economy for more than 60 years, and especially the mining industry has been a key factor in the development of the economy in transition - for the last 30 years. Regardless of the pronounced dependence of the mining industry on the economic development, it can be defined as one of the sectors that are leading in terms of: introduction of new technologies; wage growth; fulfilment of the requirements for labour safety and environmental protection; introducing the requirements of the circular economy and the rules of corporate social responsibility (CSR). This article reveals the answers to the question: how is the mining industry changing from within to meet these contemporary economic, social and political challenges. The presented analysis objectively analyses data from the development of the sector from 1989 to 2019, incl. in terms of production, investment, labour and wages, etc. On this basis, the necessary summaries are made and trends in the development of this sector are outlined.