site.btaUPDATED BTA Doubles Coverage of Bulgaria’s Science Olympiad Teams in 2025, Director General Says

Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev attended the annual Olympic meeting at the National Archaeological Museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences on Monday, organised by the Association of Science Olympiad Teams. He recalled that on January 17 this year BTA and the Association signed an open-ended agreement for systematic partnership, under which, since the beginning of the year, BTA has published 94 articles in Bulgarian and 18 in English about Bulgaria’s science Olympiad teams, compared with twice as few publications in 2024.

He pointed out that BTA and the Association also partner on various campaigns such as “Participate! The Olympiad Is for Everyone!”, aimed at promoting Olympiads among students across the country through the Agency’s extensive network of national press clubs and its correspondents. The goal of the campaign is to increase the engagement of students, teachers and school principals in taking part in the municipal rounds of the Olympiads.

Valchev used the occasion to invite the Association of Science Olympiad Teams, and in particular the artificial intelligence team, to join a new structure that BTA is set to establish from the beginning of next year, BTA I. It will include the “BTA Institute” for the use of artificial intelligence in the media and a new technical centre, “BTA Intelligence”. More than 15 organisations in Bulgaria working in the field of artificial intelligence will be invited to have their representatives involved in the structure.

Valchev stressed, however, that investments in natural intelligence remain the most important, because “if we do not invest enough in it, we risk seeing confirmations of the words of British writer Terry Pratchett that ‘real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time’”.

Among those attending the annual meeting were Vice President Iliana Iotova, Deputy Education and Science Minister Natalia Mihalevska, Sofia University Rector Georgi Valchev, representatives of the Natural Sciences Olympic Teams Association, as well as students, teachers, lecturers and researchers. 

The Bulgarian Olympic teams in natural sciences won a total of 97 medals this year - 15 gold, 40 silver, and 42 bronze medals, said Valkan Goranov, Executive Director of the Natural Sciences Olympic Teams Association.