site.btaBTA National Press Club in Odesa Turns Two

With the opening of a National Press Club in Odesa, Ukraine, on June 24, 2023, the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA) firmly established itself in the cultural, educational and social life of the largest historic Bulgarian community outside Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian community in Ukraine numbers 204,000 people according to the official 2001 census and is mainly concentrated in the regions of Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Kirovohrad.

BTA is the first permanent representation of a Bulgarian media in Ukraine, providing daily news on the local Bulgarian community. News updates are also regularly broadcast on the general situation in the country under the conditions of wartime, as part of a cooperation agreement with the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.

On June 24, 2023, BTA officially opened its press club with the participation of official representatives of the Ukrainian authorities from the city and region, Bulgarian diplomats, and members of the Bulgarian community. Over the following two years, the BTA National Press Club, together with the Bulgarian Consulate General in Odesa, organized a number of significant cultural and historical events in regions with concentrated Bulgarian populations.

In connection with Bessarabian Bulgarians Day on October 29, 2023, the BTA National Press Club in Odesa hosted the launch of Yordan Eftimov’s book “Before They Wash Away the Blood,” dedicated to the war in Ukraine.

On October 30, 2023, an exhibition was opened at the UNIÓN International Centre in Odesa, marking the 80th anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews.

To mark Bulgaria’s national holiday, March Third, a commemorative plaque for Bulgarian writer Alekо Konstantinov was unveiled on March 4, 2024, at the Faculty of Law of Odesa I.I. Mechnikov National University, where he studied from 1881 to 1885. The initiative came from BTA, with the support of the Bulgarian Consulate General in Odesa and the university administration.

The nineteenth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media was held in hybrid format in three cities of significance for Bulgarians in Ukraine – Odesa, Bolhrad and Izmail – from June 18 to 21, 2024. Representatives from 14 countries, including Bulgaria – 12 Bulgarian media represented by 13 journalists, and 20 Bulgarian-language foreign media represented by 26 journalists, rectors of six universities, the heads of Bolhrad and Aprilov high schools, as well as many official guests from Bulgaria and from the Bulgarian communities in Odesa Region, had the opportunity to discuss the challenges faced by the media in covering Bulgarian communities.

On October 25 of the same year, at the initiative of BTA Director General Kiril Valchev, a meeting with representatives of the Bulgarian community was organized in Olshanka, Kirovohrad Region. The event marked the 250th anniversary of the migration of the first Bulgarian settlers to present-day Ukraine.

On October 26, 2024, in the central city garden in Odesa, on Deribasovska Street, BTA, together with the Bulgarian Consulate General and the city municipality, organized a concert by Desi Dobreva featuring Bulgarian folk dance groups from Bessarabia – Kulevcha, Kamchik and Delzhiler. The event was dedicated to Bessarabian Bulgarians Day – October 29.