site.btaPresident to Present His Badge of Honour to Firefighters, Volunteers

President Rumen Radev will award the Presidential Badge of Honour to firefighters and volunteers for their active participation in tackling fires this year, as well as for their contribution to national security, the President’s Press Secretariat said on Friday.

The ceremony will take place to mark Volunteer Day. The recipients will be Chief Inspector Plamen Petkov, Inspector Gyoko Valchanov, Stelian Haralanov, Yavor Hadzhiev and Todor Grozdanov.

Chief Inspector Plamen Petkov is Head of the Firefighting and Rescue Activities Sector at the Regional Directorate Fire Safety and Civil Protection – Haskovo. During the summer, he led the forces and equipment involved in containing fires in the municipalities of Topolovgrad, Harmanli and Svilengrad, as well as the response to a derailment incident in Simeonovgrad. Under his leadership, entire villages, numerous buildings and livestock were saved.

Gyoko Valchanov is an inspector in the Firefighting and Rescue Activities Group at the Regional Directorate Fire Safety and Civil Protection – Stara Zagora. During a fire near Stara Zagora this summer, he directed and managed the available forces and resources and coordinated the actions of additional teams from Kazanlak, Chirpan, Radnevo, Pavel Banya, Sliven and Plovdiv.

Stelian Haralanov is Deputy Chair of the National Association of Volunteers in the Republic of Bulgaria and Head of the Beliovo volunteer unit. He took part in extinguishing fires in the municipalities of Sungurlare, Septemvri and Beliovo, as well as in responding to floods in the Elenite resort and Boychinovtsi Municipality. He has participated in organising the two largest exercises for volunteers – in Bratsigovo Municipality in 2022 and in Beliovo Municipality in 2025.

Yavor Hadzhiev is Head of the Georgi Izmirliev – The Little Macedonian volunteer unit in Blagoevgrad. During the summer, he coordinated the actions of volunteer units and their joint work with the teams of the General Directorate Fire Safety and Civil Protection, local authorities and forestry structures during a series of major forest fires in Blagoevgrad Region.

Todor Grozdanov is Secretary of the National Association of Volunteers in the Republic of Bulgaria and a member of a volunteer unit with Sofia Municipality. In 2025, he made a significant contribution to the organisation of a number of trainings, lectures and practical sessions related to proper behaviour and actions during disasters, fires, floods and other emergency situations.