UNWE Presents Best Administrations Awards for 2024

Petya Petrova, Neli Zheleva, Nikoleta Vassileva

BTA Photo/Hristo Kasabov

Sofia,

08.04.2025 19:57

(BTA)

The four biggest awards of the University of National and World Economy (UNWE) recognizing the best administrations in 2024 were handed out to the Labour Ministry, the National Statistical Institute (NSI), Pernik Regional Administration and Gabrovo Municipality.

Addressing the ceremony, UNWE Rector Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov said that the UNWE will continue to support and develop the relationship between the academic community and the public administration. In his words, he inaugurated an initiative that aims to recognize those who remain out of the spotlight, but without which no institution can function fully - the administration.

Prof. Dimitrov said that for more than a century the UNWE has been not only a leading educational center in Bulgaria, but also a source of recruits for the state and public administration.

Labour Minister Borislav Gutsanov received the Grand Prize for Best Administration on behalf of the Labour Ministry from National Assembly Chair Nataliya Kiselova. "The administration is that unit which helps the state to move on a daily basis, which thinks about the people, their problems, business, meets the expectations of the people. In recent years of more serious economic or political turbulence it has helped the state, the municipality, the regional administration to move forward," Kiselova said.

Upon receiving the award, Minister Gutsanov said that in his opinion one of the most important things in a country is how the administration works, which should be helpful and supportive to the people, even more so when it comes to the Labour Ministry, which is addressed by people who need help.

The administration is the backbone of any government, Vice President Iliana Iotova said, while she presented the Best Administration Award to the National Statistical Institute (NSI). She said that it was a great privilege and honour for her to present one of these inaugural awards at the UNWE. This is the only higher education institution that prepares good managers, Yotova said. “With these awards, we bring to light the noble work that any type of administration does,” she added. According to Yotova, thanks to the people in the NSI, the most important decisions in the country are made. No institution can take a decision without this data, the Vice President said.

NSI Governor Atanas Atanassov said that the NSI is 145 years old this year. Pointing out that the secret of good work of an administration is when it thinks about all users of information and the information is the same for all.

Presenting the award for the Best Regional Administration to the Pernik Regional Administration, Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov said that the city “ is an example of how to do people-friendly management”. Pernik's regional administration does not hide behind bureaucracy, it uses it to solve people's problems. It showed that the fight against corruption should turn from declarations into a daily practice, he stressed.

Pernik Regional Governor Lyudmil Veselinov said that the award is for the whole team. As one of their successes he noted the return of the Mining Directorate building to the people of Pernik. “This emblem has become our cause, it is now a public state property, this is one of the highlights of our campaign,” said the governor.

Regional Development Minister Ivan Ivanov presented the award for the best local administration to Gabrovo Municipality.

The Regional Development Ministry is currently implementing one of the largest investment programmes in municipalities, Ivanov said. In his words, when you have a problem, the first place to knock is at the mayor's door. “Local government represents the local problems of every Bulgarian citizen. The state should stand behind it,” the minister stressed.

“We all have a need for a strong, efficient, quality and good administration, “ said Gabrovo Mayor Tanya Hristova. “To get such an award is not a one-man effort, an institution must have a lot of ambition, strong teamwork and very good expertise,” she said.

/PP/