BTA Opens National Press Club in Pernik

UPDATED BTA Opens National Press Club in Pernik

Matey Todorov

BTA Photo

Pernik, West Bulgaria,

19.10.2023 13:32 | UPDATED 19.10.2023 14:26

(BTA)

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The Bulgarian News Agency opened a national press club in Pernik on Thursday. The inaugural event took place on the official holiday of the town, October 19, which is the feast day of the patron saint of Pernik, St. John of Rila,

In his opening remarks, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said that for 120 years now, St. John of Rila has been revered as the patron saint of miners, and the building from where all state mines in Bulgaria have been managed since 1932 - the Mining Directorate, now houses the BTA press club. He added that right across the street is the more than a century-old Mining Church dedicated to the Saint (completed in 1920 and painted in 1937-1939 by the eminent Bulgarian artists Nikola Marinov and Dechko Uzunov), which since 2009 has also housed a piece of his relics donated by the Rila Monastery.

Pernik Regional Governor Lyudmil Vesselinov said that the news media in Pernik and the country will find a new home in the newly opened BTA press club. According to him, the space, together with that of the Art Gallery, "enrich the building of the Mining Directorate".

"Good news for Pernik, the region and Bulgaria should be reported from here," Deputy Mayor Stefan Krastev added.

The opening ceremony was also attended by MPs from Pernik Hristina Georgieva, Georg Georgiev, Dimo Drenchev, representatives of the Pernik Municipality, various cultural organizations and local government officials.

Pernik is the largest settlement in West Bulgaria after Sofia and the 11th largest in the country according to the last census, Valchev noted. He added that the town also has a significant place in Bulgarian history, economy, culture and education. With schools, vocational high schools and the European Polytechnical University, with which BTA also began a partnership. However, in the shadow of the nearby capital, Pernik has not been featured enough in the national daily news, and due to the absence of a national BTA press club, it has not participated fully in the general talks organized by the Agency for Bulgaria and Europe so far in 35 national press clubs - 25 in regional towns (including Sofia), three in large non-regional centres, six outside the country and one on the Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii, the BTA Director General pointed out.

/RY/