BTA Director General Calls for Monuments Honouring Prominent Bessarabian Bulgarians

Veneta Litkova, BTA special correspondent Simona-Alex Mihaleva

BTA Director General Kiril Valchev in Vasylivka, Ukraine, October 31, 2025 (BTA Photo/Hristo Kassabov)

Vasylivka, Ukraine,

31.10.2025 18:16

(BTA)

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#Ukraine

During celebrations for the 195th anniversary of the founding of the village of Vasylivka, Ukraine and the 5th anniversary of the establishment of Vasylivka Municipality, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said on Friday that there are many reasons to place monuments of prominent Bessarabian Bulgarians such as Aleksandar Malinov and Aleksandar Teodorov-Balan in Bolhrad, as well as to the patron of the Bessarabian Bulgarians, Ivan Inzov, in Sofia.

He noted that discussions are underway with Bulgarian Consul General in Odesa Svetoslav Ivanov, Bulgarian folk singer Ilia Lukov and representatives of the Bessarabian Bulgarian community about setting up memorials by 2028 in honour of Malinov and Teodorov-Balan in Bolhrad, and possibly a monument to General Inzov in Bulgaria.

Valchev said that the Day of Bessarabian Bulgarians, marked on October 29, celebrates the people of Bolhrad and their descendants, who have contributed to Bulgaria’s freedom. He noted that the year 2028 will bring many anniversaries: 120 years since Bulgaria’s declaration of independence by Aleksandar Malinov, 140 years since the founding of Sofia University by Teodorov-Balan, the 260th anniversary of Inzov’s birth in 1768, and 170 years since the establishment of the Bolhrad High School in 1858.

He also pointed out that BTA will mark its 130th anniversary in 2028, noting that Bulgaria has one of the world’s oldest news agencies. The BTA Director General, together with Consul General Ivanov and singer Ilia Lukov, laid flowers at Bulgarian monuments in Bolhrad and the nearby village of Banovka.

Valchev honoured the memory of the 1,001 settlers and 206 families who arrived in 1830 from Adrianople (now Edirne) to establish the present village of Vasylivka, as well as General Ivan Inzov, founder of Bolhrad, the spiritual capital of Bessarabian Bulgarians.

/VE/