site.btaUniversities, Research Institutes Will Work Together to Implement Maritime Policies

Universities and scientific institutes established a new association whose main goal will be the implementation of various maritime policies. The establishment of the organization "Maritime Scientific Society" was initiated by the Varna Naval University on Thursday. Among the founders of the association are the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute, universities from Varna, Burgas and Stara Zagora, scientific institutes at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Among the guests at the meeting were the Minister of Environment and Water Julian Popov, Tourism Minister Zaritsa Dinkova, the Director General of BTA, Kiril Valchev, the Director of the Executive Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Assoc. Vanya Stamatova.

"We have taken this initiative because Bulgarian science related to the sea needs consolidation and all of us, on an equal basis, should start implementing successful project initiatives", said Admiral Prof. Boyan Mednikarov. According to him, the challenges facing maritime Bulgaria are great and a common approach is needed in solving them.

"In order to successfully develop the country and to be able to retain and return our young people, it is important to invest in science", said Zaritsa Dinkova. According to her, the blue economy and integrated policies have huge potential and the community can achieve a lot by uniting. Minister of Environment and Water Julian Popov expressed hope that the creation of the association will attract the attention of not only Bulgarian institutions, but also international ones. He added that with the aggression against Ukraine it has become obvious how important research in the Black Sea is, not only from the environmental point of view, but also from the economic and security standpoint.

The statute of the association states that its members will actively work for the formation of national maritime policies, the development of scientific technology parks and the modernization of education. The focus of their activities will be the development of joint projects, strategies, as well as monitoring the state of the aquatic environment. The founding members agreed that the association's board of directors will be 7-member, the chairman will be the institutional head of BBMU.