site.btaShumen Has Established Itself as Economic Centre of Northeastern Bulgaria, Says Mayor

Shumen has established itself as the economic centre of Northeastern Bulgaria, Mayor Prof. Hristo Hristov said during a local conference held here on Wednesday. The event was part of BTA’s Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills project.

"There is no giving up. We are working at a fast pace and have attracted nearly BGN 90 million in grant funding under European programmes to improve the town's infrastructure and living environment, as well as the environmental cleanliness and the modernization of the the base in the education system," he emphasized.

"We must do everything possible to maintain the economic pace at which we are developing. In practice, we have no difficulties in terms of unemployment. In the town, we have large enterprises that need labor," Hristov stressed, adding that the main problem is to build an environment that meets the understanding of the way of life of young people today.

"It is the projects and funding that we receive from the European Union that helps us build this environment that meets the interests of young people," he said, emphasizing that the goal is for young people stay in Shumen, create families and raise their children here. 

Hristov stated that the efforts of the municipal administration are aimed at attracting external funding to make this change, since the municipal budget as a financial resource is not enough. "Our budget is 70% state-delegated and about 30% our own funds. We are taking advantage of external financial resources for the changes we want for our town. We have significantly increased the resources that the municipality plans to absorb and we continue to work on new problems," he pointed out.

He explained that projects are currently being developed under the second phase of the Concepts for Integrated Territorial Investments (KITI), where their expectations are quite high. The mayor pointed out that they have missed opportunities worth millions of leva under the first phase.

"There are several directions in which we have allocated resources from the European Union. Some of them are for the building stock and educational facilities in the municipality. Another part is aimed at improving the living environment. Our goal is to make Shumen a more environmentally friendly town. For this reason, we applied for the electric bus programme", Hristov noted, adding that currently they are waiting for the last of the six new buses to arrive in order to put them into operation.

He stated that the Municipality has also applied for about BGN 35 million, which are aimed at replacing the heating facilities from solid fuels with air conditioners and heat pumps, with which they count on making it so that harmful dust particles in Shumen decrease and the air becomes cleaner. Hristov noted that the municipal administration is also working on projects for the renovation of multi-family residential buildings and the main buildings of the municipal administration. 

Hristov pointed out that one of the major problems of Shumen is the central part of the town. "We are doing everything possible to start repairing and improving the appearance of the central part of the town, we are looking for all forms of financing, but we must start this part in this term. In order for Shumen to become an attractive tourist centre, we must make this repair and all our efforts are directed towards that," he stressed.

BTA's Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills project aims to raise public awareness and foster open dialogue about cohesion policy, local achievements, and the implementation of the EU's policy priorities. The project kicked off with a conference in Veliki Preslav in November 2024. The schedule of conferences until the end of September 2025 includes events in the following cities: Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Gabrovo, Dobrich, Kazanlak, Kardzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Razgrad, Ruse, Samokov, Svishtov, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofia, Stara Zagora, Troyan, Targovishte, Haskovo, Shumen, and Yambol. Cross-border conferences will be held in Belgrade, Bosilegrad, Bucharest, Edirne, Skopje, and Thessaloniki. The project builds on the Europe in the Balkans: A Common Future and Europe in Bulgaria: A Common Future projects, implemented by BTA in 2023 and 2024, respectively.