site.btaBulgarian Community in Comodoro Rivadavia Welcomes Bulgarian Research Vessel Crew

Representatives of the Bulgarian community in the Argentine city of Comodoro Rivadavia officially welcomed the crew of the research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) on Tuesday.

Capt. 2nd Rank Radko Muevski, the vessel’s commanding officer, attended the ceremony alongside Capt. 2nd Rank Nikolay Danailov, head of the staff module and the floating research facilities at the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy, and members of the crew. Comodoro Rivadavia Deputy Mayor Maximiliano Sampaoli, Argentina’s National Directorate of Migration Director Dulio Gauna, National University of Patagonia San Juan Bosco Rector Dr Ruben Gustavo Fleitas, Faculty of Natural Sciences Dean Dr Barbara Lisa Rueter, Port Authority Chair Digna Hernando de Blanco, Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian Society in Comodoro Rivadavia Chair Tsenka Genova, Argentine Navy Frigate Captain Martin Sosa and other officials and guests also attended.

Sampaoli and Sosa officially welcomed captains Danailov and Muevski on Argentine soil.

Genova told guests it was a great honour for the Bulgarian community in Comodoro Rivadavia to welcome the Bulgarian research vessel for the third consecutive year. “The ship bears the same name as our society, the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius,” she said, adding that the society is the southernmost Bulgarian association in the world. “There are only a few of us, but we make plenty of noise,” Genova added.

She recalled that Sofia University “St Kliment Ohridski” and the National University of Patagonia San Juan Bosco signed a cooperation agreement in 2025.

Later on Tuesday, the Central Hall of the Cultural Centre in Comodoro Rivadavia will host an exhibition titled Yesterday and Today, featuring historical and contemporary photographs, as well as a display of drawings and paintings by the Metoditos group. The programme will also include a performance of Bulgarian music and dance by the Metoditos and Kirilcheta folk dance ensembles and the Orpheus music group. Special performances will be given by Viento Sureno and Javier Masa.

About 2,000 descendants of Bulgarian immigrants live in Comodoro Rivadavia, which is home to the Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian Society. Founded in 1989, the society aims to bring together descendants of Bulgarians who settled in Argentina in the 1930s. It includes the Kirilcheta folk dance ensemble and the Orpheus music group, which perform at community celebrations and showcase Bulgarian culture and traditions to the wider Argentine public.

Comodoro Rivadavia is the largest city in the central section of the San Jorge Gulf coastline. With a population of about 180,000, it is the biggest city in Argentina’s Chubut Province in the Patagonian region. Established in 1901, the city was named after Commodore Martin Rivadavia, a prominent figure in the development of southern Argentina. After oil was discovered in the area in 1907, large numbers of immigrants, including Bulgarians, moved to Comodoro Rivadavia to work in the oil fields and at the refinery opened in 1922. A 1,770-kilometre gas pipeline was later built linking the city to the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires.

The Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) departed for Antarctica from Varna (on the Black Sea) on November 7, 2025. After a month-long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, the ship arrived at the Argentine naval base in Mar del Plata on December 13.

BTA has had a national press club on board the ship since 2022 and another on Livingston Island since February 2024. BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said they exist thanks to the generous support of RSV 421 and Bulgaria’s St Kliment Ohridski Base, which provide the necessary facilities. These two press clubs are added to the news agency’s other 41 national press clubs (33 in Bulgaria, seven abroad in neighbouring countries and in nations with large Bulgarian communities, and one mobile National Book Press Club). 

The news items of BTA's special correspondents on RSV 421 and Antarctica are freely available in Bulgarian and English on the agency's website. They can be used free of charge by all media, with attribution to BTA. Valchev recalled that thanks to its correspondents, the news agency appears among the top results on Google when searching for the phrase “Antarctica correspondent”.