site.btaBTA Director General: Bulgarian News Agency Is a Window for Universities at Home and Abroad

The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) can serve as a bridge between Bulgarian universities, local students, and those from abroad, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said here Wednesday during a Metallurgist’s Day celebration at the University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy (UCTM).

Valchev noted that the day honors the development of Bulgarian metallurgy, recalling that two major metallurgical enterprises began operating on this date — the Pernik Metallurgical Plant (1953) and the Kremikovtzi Metal Complex (1963). The event also marked the 80th anniversary of UCTM’s Department of Inorganic Chemistry.

“This is a day of remembrance for the hardships that accompanied the development of Bulgarian metallurgy,” said Valchev. “Our generation faces the difficult task of continuing industrial progress while ensuring freedom for the people of Bulgaria.”

Earlier, Valchev and UCTM Rector Prof. Senya Terzieva-Zhelyazkova signed a partnership agreement, making UCTM the 51st Bulgarian university to partner with BTA. The cooperation focuses on regular publication of university news and student internships. Over the past decade, BTA has published 24,141 articles related to universities in Bulgarian and English, as the figure shows a tenfold increase since a Knowledge Section was created.

Valchev shared that last year 16,995 foreign students studied in Bulgaria — up nearly 5% from the previous year. The largest numbers came from Greece (3,277), the UK (2,235), Ukraine (2,151), Germany (1,532), and Italy (990).

So far, 180 students from 15 universities have completed internships at BTA, and about 15% have stayed on as full-time employees. “Studying a specialized subject [other than journalism] doesn’t mean you can’t be a great journalist,” Valchev told students. “Bulgaria needs people who can explain complex topics like chemistry and metallurgy.”

UCTM Rector Terzieva-Zhelyazkova highlighted the university’s 80-year legacy in training metallurgical engineers — the only institution in Bulgaria to do so — and its growing appeal to foreign and Erasmus students. "Our university is proud that throughout its entire history it has taken on the commitment to provide education in complex and demanding specializations — difficult to study, challenging for the development of scientific research, yet crucial for the advancement of our industry, our scientific sphere, and for training the specialists who will continue the development of the country’s economy. We are the only institution in Bulgaria that trains metallurgical engineers, and we also attract many foreign students who come to study metallurgy or to spend a study period here under the Erasmus program,” said the professor.

The celebration was attended by representatives of UCTM’s Board of Trustees, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, business, and other institutions.