site.btaSpace Electronic Equipment During Space Race Was Produced in Silistra, Says Executive Director of Local Electronics Factory

Silistra has contributed to the world history of astronautics and aviation, said Varban Varbanov, Executive Director of the local electronics factory on Friday on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the factory's opening. 

Varbanov recalled that in 1979, the factory fulfilled important orders for the Interkosmos Soviet space programme and produced a set of printed circuit boards for space electronic equipment, which was sent to the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City. A special programmed pocket electronic calculator was also made by the plant for the Bulgarian cosmonauts in preparation.

The electronics factory in Silistra was opened in 1964. For nearly three decades it was a manufacturer and exporter of modern electronic products for the needs of Comecon countries and for the armies of the Warsaw Pact. Among the most famous products of the plant were the Elka 22 and Elka 25 calculators, who were among the leading models in their class in the world. It also produced devices for the Navy of the USSR, as well as computers for the Soviet submarines.