site.btaLIK Magazine's December Issue Themed "Bulgarian Money"

LIK magazine's December issue is themed "Bulgarian Money" and comes out on the eve of Bulgaria’s entry into the euro area. Published by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), the literature, art, and culture magazine explores the history of money used on the territory of Bulgaria over the decades. 

The issue will be presented at the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) Museum Collection on January 6, Epiphany. A special guest at the event will be BNB Governor Dimitar Radev. The presentation will be broadcast live via video link to BTA’s National Press Clubs in Bulgaria and abroad.

"The broader idea of this issue is to reflect on the meaning of money in general, including in the Bulgarian lands," BTA Director General Kiril Valchev writes in the introduction. In his words, the magazine's issue offers multiple perspectives on money, viewing it as "a means of facilitating exchange, a store of value, trust, identity, and a sense of belonging to a community."

In an interview with LIK, BNB Governor Dimitar Radev says that "the continuity between the lev and the euro is part of the country’s development." "It is a step forward that builds on what has already been achieved," he adds. Radev notes that currency is both an economic instrument and a cultural symbol, explaining how the message conveyed by Bulgarian banknotes and coins has evolved over time and what elements of Bulgarian identity are reflected in the design of the euro. The Governor also discusses the future of banknotes and coins in the context of the growing use of electronic payments.

Prof. Pencho Penchev, who teaches Economic History, History of Economic Thought, and Comparative Political Economy at the University of National and World Economy, traces the development of money in an article titled "The Path of Money in Our Lands." Assoc. Prof. Julia Zaharieva, founder of the European Union Law programme at the Faculty of Law of Sofia University and a leading national expert in the field, presents "A History of the Euro." The issue also includes an interview with Prof. Kiril Gogov, an artist, heraldist, and graphic designer whose work was used in Bulgaria’s state means of payment, specifically those issued between 1996 and 2002.

A thematic chronology brings together highlights from publications on Bulgarian money over the decades, drawn from BTA’s extensive archive, which preserves news items from every single day since the Agency’s founding 127 years ago. Over its 145-year history—from its official introduction as the principal monetary unit of the Principality of Bulgaria in 1881 and the minting of the first Bulgarian coins, to the end of this year when Bulgaria joins the euro area—the lev has undergone numerous transformations. At various times, it has been devalued or revalued, redenominated, and changed in both value and form. The earliest publications on the subject in BTA's news bulletins date back to 1898, the year the Agency itself was founded. These early reports describe the Bulgarian National Bank and its relations with foreign banks in connection with loans and financial affairs. Among the highlights is a nearly century-old news item from 1926, marking the laying of the foundations for the Bulgarian National Bank to become a true issuing institution. The most recent reports focus on the upcoming currency transition, when Bulgarians will begin using the single European currency - the euro.

LIK magazine has been freely accessible since January 2024. All issues from its revival in 2022 to the present can be downloaded in electronic format from the BTA website.