site.btaProf. Christo Pimpirev Receives Medal for Contribution to Cooperation between Antarctic Nations

The President of the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute (BAI), Cristo Pimpirev, was awarded the special medal of the Chair of the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) during the 37th meeting of the organization, which ended on Friday in Warsaw, the BAI said. Pimpirev received the award for his contribution to the expansion and deepening of scientific and logistical cooperation between Antarctic nations.

The meeting was attended by representatives of 33 countries with polar bases and active scientific programmes in Antarctica.

Pimpirev is a long-standing representative of Bulgaria in the COMNAP and was vice-president of the organization from 2006 to 2009. To date, this award has been presented to only three other managers of national Antarctic programmes, from South Africa, the United States, and Germany.

In addition to Prof. Pimpirev, Bulgaria was represented at the forum by Dragomir Mateev and Kamen Nedkov from the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute, as well as Captain Nikolay Danailov from the Naval Academy in Varna. He was captain of the Bulgarian scientific research vessel St. St. Cyril and Methodius during the 31st and 32nd expeditions to Antarctica.