site.btaBulgarian National Radio's 90th Anniversary Invites Reflection on Its Rich History, Says Director General Milen Mitev

Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) Director General Milen Mitev said the 90th anniversary оf BNR is а time to reflect on the rich history of this institution. “To remember the successes and challenges, to remember the people who built and continue to build the Radio, thanks to whom we stand here today. We are doing this together with our friends from the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), who, for 90 years now, since the very beginning, have been our partners,” he said in London on Thursday.

Mitev was speaking at an event organized by the Bulgarian Cultural Institute (BCI) London and its director Svetla Dionisieva, along with collaborators Miglena Rogacheva, Diyana Spasova and Yoana Peeva. The initiative celebrated two media anniversaries: the 60th anniversary of the first issue of BTA’s LIK magazine for literature, art and culture, and the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Bulgarian National Radio.

To mark these two milestones, thematic issues of the LIK magazine were published earlier in 2025 and presented to the audience at BCI by BTA Director General Kiril Valchev.

Two exhibitions, part of the BNR anniversary celebrations, were also showcased at BCI in London: a documentary exhibition “90 Years of BNR: The Radio of Generations of Bulgarians,” and a display of artworks from a national contest titled “In the Footsteps of Sirak Skitnik.”

Sirak Skitnik (the artistic pseudonym of Panayot Todorov) was the first Director of Radio Sofia, appointed on June 8, 1935.

Regarding the documentary exhibition, Mitev noted that it was created with the support of the State Archives Agency and BTA.

“Both institutions opened their archives to search for and provide us with documents and photographic materials related to BNR’s history,” he said.

“The efforts of our partners at the State Archives extended not only through the Central State Archive but also across all regional archives. The exhibition we are presenting is a visual representation of the documentary collections we received from the Archives and BTA. It is an external view of the Radio, as seen in documents, facsimiles, photo archives and periodicals. This is a history built on facts, just as the unshakable principles of journalism require the Radio to present  verified and reliable facts,” Mitev added.

“In 2023, to commemorate 140 years since the birth and 80 years since the death of Sirak Skitnik, BNR, together with the Dimitar Dobrovich National High School of Fine Arts in Sliven (Southeastern Bulgaria), launched the art competition 'In the Footsteps of Sirak Skitnik',” the BNR Director General said.

In October 2023, the LIK magazine dedicated an issue to Sirak Skitnik. On October 22, the 140th anniversary of his birth, the issue was presented at the BTA National Press Club in his hometown of Sliven.