site.btaBTA, Burgas State University Sign Cooperation Agreement

BTA Director General Kiril Valchev and Burgas State University Rector Sotir Sotirov signed a cooperation agreement on Thursday at the Agency’s National Press Club in Burgas.

With this agreement, BTA expands the circle of its academic partners, having already signed agreements with 46 universities in the country. “BTA’s ambition is to sign such agreements with all 51 Bulgarian universities by the end of 2025,” Valchev emphasized, adding that the main goal of the partnerships is the systematic provision of information about the activities in higher education institutions in Bulgaria, which is published every week in both the Bulgarian and English by the Agency.

The agreement also provides for internship opportunities for Burgas State University students in various BTA departments. “This way, students will be able to get to know the professional work of journalists up close and personal and gain valuable practical experience,” Valchev noted. He also recalled that the university is celebrating two anniversaries in 2025, namely 30 years since its approval by the National Assembly as a university in 1995 and 140 years since the birth of its patron, Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov. 

Valchev presented Sotirov with a copy of BTA’s news from 1963 about the opening of Burgas State University. "The news says that on this day the workers of the coastal city received two new cultural benefits. The Chemical Technology Institute was opened and the new building of the Industrial Chemistry College was handed over," Valchev pointed out. 

"More young people should see the example of Bulgarian universities. It is usually believed that it is prestigious to study in Western Europe, but our universities also attract foreign students, including Burgas State University. And through publications in English, BTA will enable this prestige to be further affirmed," Valchev emphasized. 

Valchev also noted that the digitization of BTA’s archives will be completed by spring of 2026, adding that over 5 million pages of news and almost 2 million photos are going to be digitized, with the main challenge being to choose appropriate models of AI in order to integrate the archive data in contemporary news coverage.

Sotirov expressed satisfaction with the cooperation and emphasized its importance for the promotion of the university’s activities. “As one of the rapidly developing universities in Bulgaria, we want our efforts to be visible. BTA is the strongest partner that can help us make this happen,” he commented and expressed hope that the university will continue to expand its appeal to foreign students, open new majors and branches, and also consolidate its status as a scientific university.