The Tobacco and the Entrepreneurship of Ruscho Vulkov Mirkovich. Some Features of Bulgarian Economic Reality in the Late 1880s and 1890s

Ruscho Vulkov Mirkovich was a typical representative of the modern Bulgarian economic elite formed during the Bulgarian Revival. His long and successful commercial biography is a convincing testimony to the deep and lasting economic and social changes that occurred in the nineteenth century, which are characteristic not only of his hometown Sliven, but also of the entire Bulgarian national territory. The professional experience he gained for over four decades in the field of trade with aba garment, wool, foreign merchandise, salt, foods, and other goods, allowed him to maintain a very high rate of commercial activity, particularly after 1878 at a number of market centres such as Sliven, Constantinople, Yambol, Burgas, and Straldzha. The well-known Sliven entrepreneur was fully committed to his trade endeavours and at the same time he was an active public figure – something typical for that period. After 1887, although of his respectable age, he turned to the field of tobacco, becoming a pioneer of one of the most successful industries in the Bulgarian commercial development by founding a tobacco factory in Yambol through the joint-stock company R. V. Mirkovich & Co. The available documents in the Bulgarian archives allow us to conclude that Ruscho Mirkovich’s decision to engage with the tobacco industry was a carefully considered step. He had the approval of his partners and attracted skilled experts to ensure the smooth running of the tobacco factory. The company was part of Yambol’s economic infrastructure from the late 1880s and throughout the 1890s. The present study focuses specifically on this aspect of Ruscho Vulkov Mirkovich’s active work as evidence of entrepreneurial sense and adaptability in the conditions of the dynamically changing economic reality of post-liberation Bulgaria.