site.btaBTA to Continue Using Ruse University Premises for Press Club in Taraclia

BTA Director General Kiril Valchev and Ruse University Rector, Assoc. Prof. Desislava Atanasova, signed an agreement in Ruse on Wednesday extending BTA’s use of university premises for its press club in the Moldovan city of Taraclia.

Valchev explained that the document is an addendum to the 2022 agreement between BTA and Angel Kanchev University of Ruse on the systematic provision and publication of copyright-cleared information, as well as on student internships at BTA. He noted that the former Gregory Tsamblak Taraclia State University is now a branch of Ruse University. With the consent of the Moldovan authorities, which own the buildings in Taraclia but have entrusted their management to the Bulgarian university, BTA will continue to use the centrally located premises in the city, Valchev said.

He recalled that BTA's press club in Taraclia opened at its current location on October 28, 2022, in the presence of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev. BTA's Director General thanked Assoc. Prof. Atanasova for providing the premises free of charge.

The Rector said that all joint initiatives in Taraclia are aimed at supporting the Bulgarian community in Moldova and its main cultural centre. She expressed hope that the cooperation would continue, stressing that Bulgarians in the region need stronger informational support and recognition of their efforts to preserve the Bulgarian identity, both locally and in Bulgaria.

Valchev noted that over the past four years BTA has tripled the number of its national press clubs while preserving and developing the 14 clubs opened during the previous 18 years. At present, BTA operates 43 national press clubs, which also serve as correspondent bureaus. Of these, 27 are located in all regional centres and six are in non-regional towns, Gotse Delchev, Kazanlak, Petrich, Samokov, Svishtov and Troyan.

Eight press clubs are located abroad in Ankara, Belgrade, Bosilegrad (Serbia), Bucharest, Odesa, Skopje, Taraclia and at the St. Kliment Ohridski Bulgarian Antarctic base on Livingston Island. Two press clubs are mobile, one aboard Bulgaria’s first naval research vessel, Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii, during its voyages to and from Antarctica, and the national book press club during book fairs in various Bulgarian cities.

Valchev added that the opening of BTA’s 44th national press club, in Athens, is forthcoming.