Transport Connectivity and Opening of Aegean Pass Key for Smolyan Region, Says Smolyan Regional Governor

Tatiana Marinova

Smolyan Regional Governor Zahari Sirakov addresses the BG Tourism – Winter 2025/2026 forum, Pamporovo, December 6, 2025 (BTA Photo/Boyan Botev)

Pamporovo, Southern Bulgaria,

06.12.2025 14:12

(BTA)

The priorities for the development of Smolyan Region are transport connectivity to Plovdiv and Plovdiv Airport through the construction of a high-speed road, and the opening of the Aegean Pass, said Smolyan Regional Governor Zahari Sirakov during the BG Tourism – Winter 2025/2026 forum held in Pamporovo on Saturday.

The forum is organized by BTA in partnership with the Municipality of Chepelare, the Bulgarian Union of Balneology and SPA Tourism (BUBSPA), and the resort of Pamporovo. The event is part of BTA's initiative to host forums twice a year – at the beginning of the summer and winter tourist seasons – to discuss the messages for the presentation of tourism in Bulgaria during the upcoming season with representatives of state and municipal institutions, the tourism business, non-governmental organizations, scientists, and experts.

Sirakov spoke in response to a question from 1998 Nagano Olympic biathlon champion Ekaterina Dafovska about when the Aegean Pass will open at the currently inactive Rudozem – Xanthi border-crossing checkpoint. The Governor said that the Greek partners are expected to complete the INTERREG VI-A Greece-Bulgaria 2021–2027 programme, but no concrete answer has yet been received from them.

“We hope this will happen soon, because the opening of the Aegean Pass will make Smolyan Region a cross-border area,” Sirakov said. He also expressed hope that the design work for a high-speed road connecting Smolyan with Plovdiv will start in the near future.

According to Sirakov, there is no more mountainous destination than the Rhodope Mountains, whose hospitality and cultural heritage, combined with natural assets, make it an outstanding destination.

Among those invited to participate in the forum are parliamentary Tourism Committee Chairman Desislav Taskov (BSP – United Left), Minister of Youth and Sports Ivan Peshev, Minister of Tourism Miroslav Borshosh, and deputy ministers. The forum will also include representatives of local authorities, heads of organizations in the tourism business and resort complexes, and educational institutions in the field of tourism. Veleva and leaders of media outlets that are members of the Union of Bulgarian National Electronic Media, of which BTA is also a member, have also been invited: Milen Mitev, Director General of Bulgarian National Radio and Chairman of the Union of Bulgarian National Electronic Media, Anton Andonov, Member of the Management Board of Bulgarian National Television, Gospodin Yovchev, Chief Operating Officer of bTV Media Group, Marta Evtimova, Chief Producer of News and Current Affairs at Nova Broadcasting Group, as well as other national and regional media outlets.

/NF/