site.btaOrganizer of Bosilegrad in Colors International Exhibition Presented with Maxim Minchev Award

Rumen Barosov is the winner of the 5th Maxim Minchev Award for exceptional contribution to culture, media and the rapprochement of Bulgarian communities abroad. He was presented with the award during a news conference on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the BTA press club in Bosilegrad.

The GLAS Association and the St Kliment Ohridski Student Community Centre in Bosilegrad, represented by Rumen Barosov, have organized a total of five editions of the international painting plein-air titled Bosilegrad in Colors. "I am very impressed by what BTA is doing to organize this open-air event. We have another initiative called Days of Bulgarian Documentary Cinema in Bosilegrad, which I hope to continue next year," Barosov said while accepting the award. "Bosilegrad is located 130 km from my home in Sofia. I came here for the first time 20 years ago and I can say that it has remained in my heart," he emphasized. It is absolutely true that Bosilegrad seems like a beacon for Bulgarians living in Bulgaria, he added. "I am glad that we persistently, without project funding or state funding, organize these projects, but all the efforts we have made have been worth it. They create communities," Barosov pointed out.

The award is organized by the GLAS Association in Bosilegrad and named after former BTA General Director Maxim Minchev. "It is a great responsibility to carry an award in the name of Maxim Minchev, but I see similarities between him and you," said BTA Director General Kiril Valchev, who presented the award to Barosov. "Maxim Minchev was a broad-minded person with achievements in various fields, not only in the field of journalism and publicism. You know that he is one of the very good Bulgarian writers in the field of travel. You are associated with both the Association of Bulgarian Writers and with music and dance figures, you have the most diverse activities," Valchev pointed out.

 "This communication of people from both sides of the border allows us to do something that, as Maxim Minchev said, first helps people who travel, but it is also the task of every news agency, even more so of a national news agency like BTA. This allows us to compare each other and see how similar we are, because of the humanity in us," Valchev stressed.

Rumen Barosov was born on October 7, 1964 in the north-central Bulgarian city of Lovech. He majored in Bulgarian Studies at Sofia University with a Master's degree in Literature in 1992 and is one of the founders of the Ah, Maria literary magazine in 1990. He has been Editor-in-chief of the magazine since 1992. Barosov is also the founder and chair of the Board of Trustees of the St Kliment Ohridski Student Community Centre  since 1999. The community centre organizes the Bosilegrad in Colors open-air exhibition in the courtyard of the GLAS Association and the BTA Press Club in Bosilegrad. He is also the co-organizer of the Days of Bulgarian Documentary Cinema in Bosilegrad and author of several books, which have been translated and published in Greek, English, Croatian, French, Hungarian and Serbian.