site.btaUPDATED BTA Director General: We Must Achieve Stability, Sustainability and Consistency to Keep Moving Forward

Addressing the parliamentary Committee on Culture and Media on Thursday, Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev said that during his first five-year term at the helm, BTA has undergone a major transformation and expansion, and it is now essential to ensure stability, sustainability, resilience and consistency, and, at the same time, to have a clear concept for moving forward. Valchev was given a hearing for a second term as Director General in 2026-2030.

Valchev mapped out the main ideas for BTA's progress in 2026-2030: creating BTA-I, a cover term for a BTA Institute for the use of artificial intelligence in the media and BTA Intelligence, a new technical centre; expanding content formats and topics, partnerships and the correspondent network in the country, Southeastern Europe and the Bulgarian communities abroad; investing in journalists and their working conditions; completing access to the archives; and putting the finishing touches to the building's new appearance.

The hearing was held in accordance with Section V of the National Assembly's Resolution of November 6, 2025 adopting the procedural rules for nominating candidates for BTA Director General, the presentation and public disclosure of documents, and the hearing of candidates by the Committee on Culture and Media, as well as the procedure for the election by the National Assembly.

"The Committee on Culture and Media has received one nomination from Kostadin Angelov MP of GERB-UDF, Toshko Yordanov MP of There Is Such a People and Mariana Boyadzhieva MP of BSP-United Left," Committee Chair Toshko Yordanov said at the opening of the meeting. He noted that more than 60 institutions and organizations had submitted letters in support of Valchev's nomination.

Valchev said: "The term of office is one of the key guarantees of BTA's independence, along with its separate budget. I would also like to thank the organizations that supported me, as well as the Members of Parliament who submitted my nomination." He recalled that five years ago, he presented a programme entitled "Continuity and Renewal". For his new term, Valchev has chosen the title "Consistency and Progress".

Presenting his programme and priorities for his second term, he emphasized BTA's future development, focusing on "the matters within the Agency that are still outstanding, despite my desire for them to be completed". He recalled that BTA's five strategic goals - freedom, truth, knowledge, community and memory will remain "strategic, and we must continue to pursue them over the next five years".

Valchev said that access to BTA became completely free of charge in 2022, and over the past five years the news agency's output has increased dramatically, especially in video and photographic content. BTA is now present on nine social networks, and is planning a tenth, aimed at the youngest audiences. There is also a podcast that showcases people at BTA, who are the key guarantee of its independence.

He told the Committee on Culture and Media: "What I did not manage to achieve was to convince decision-makers that remuneration in the Bulgarian media sector should be comparable to that in similar segments of the labour market." In his words, pay at BTA has increased by 81% since 2021, but it started from a very low base.

Valchev said: "In 2022, salaries at BTA slightly exceeded teachers' salaries, but after 2022 (…) the gap began to widen significantly and at present remuneration is 15-20% lower than in education." He suggested adopting the International Labour Organization's living wage methodology, which calculates that "the necessary gross monthly income for one adult, in a household with two working adults and a child under 14, is BGN 1,793.86 as at September 30, 2025". "Currently, 313 employees at BTA receive this salary or more. Forty-three people below this level are employees without experience; they are beginners. As early as next year, if the salary increases at BTA are maintained, I will work to ensure that no one employed in an information sector position remains below this living wage threshold," Valchev said, adding that he would give more details in January.

Currently, 356 people are permanently employed at BTA, which is an increase of more than 100 employees due to an increase in the correspondent network and thematic coverage by entirely new directorates covering culture, the economy, Bulgarians abroad and social networks. The number of BTA employees peaked at 670 in 1987.

The optimal staffing level at BTA is 400 employees.

Regarding the second strategic goal, truth, Valchev said Rules for the Use of AI are being prepared to complement BTA's existing rules, following the example of several leading global news agencies. "What I am proposing for the next five years I have called BTA‑I. It will be a structure within the Agency," Valchev said. He is planning to invite leading organizations to jointly develop AI application software, which will be used across Bulgarian media in general. Valchev stressed that "in the process of implementing artificial intelligence, natural intelligence must always come first".

During his second term at the helm of BTA, he plans to expand the agency's network of press clubs abroad. "I propose that each year we open a new press club: in Albania, Brussels, Sarajevo, Georgia," he said.

He recalled that BTA has signed agreements with more than 50 news agencies worldwide, including in Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Egypt, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Morocco, Portugal, Russia and the Philippines. He noted that these partnerships provide "a good opportunity for Bulgaria to have a presence, rather than only foreign news agencies being present in Bulgaria". Valchev added that BTA sends news about Bulgaria to its partners.

To date, BTA has signed 150 partnership agreements in the fields of culture, science and education. Also, BTA has partnership agreements with all 51 higher education institutions in Bulgaria.

Valchev believes that a digital printing facility should be considered within BTA, since at present one major cost item is the external printing service for its LIK magazine. According to him, this would also allow for many more publications.

Regarding the strategic goal of engaging the Bulgarian community abroad, Valchev noted that BTA's new BG World section already contains more than 8,000 news items related to Bulgarians abroad. The news agency has correspondents in nine countries with Bulgarian communities. His intention is to secure at least one freelance correspondent in eight more countries with sizable Bulgarian communities. Valchev added that the annual World Meetings of Bulgarian Media organized by BTA would continue.

Regarding the strategic goal of preserving memory, Valchev highlighted completing the digitization of BTA's archives and ensuring public access, alongside developing a searchable archive system. He also talked about plans to complete rebranding using BTA's LIK typeface, to standardize design across BTA's national press clubs, and make them accessible to people with disabilities.

At the end of his presentation, Kiril Valchev introduced BTA's initiative "Bulgarian Sites Around the World", which focuses on establishing commemorative markers for Bulgarians connected with journalism and the written word.