 Up until recently the Kremikovtsi metallurgical plant, which was the fruit of the life-affirming Bulgarian-Soviet friendship, was the pride of the Bulgarian economy. However, under the merciless conditions of the market economy, the factory began to fall into decline. The hygienic conditions in the women s washroom deteriorated drastically. It didn t even help when knowledge of five of six Western languages was required to apply for the position of attendant. In the struggle for survival, the management made a desperate attempt to combine the company s traditional cast-iron and steel manufacturing with the cultivation of bananas, oranges, and lemons. At that time, an out-of-work metal worker made some one-of-a-kind sculptures out of machine parts tossed out in the yard and painted impressive frescoes on the walls of the crumbling warehouses.