BTA opens a press club in Odessa, Ukraine, June 24, 2023 (BTA Photo)
ODESSA, Ukraine – Ukrainian officials commended the opening of a Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Press Club in Odessa, Ukraine amidst the difficult days of the war, hoping it will help improve the media landscape and contribute to the development of the region.
The opening event on Saturday was attended by Oleg Radkovskiy, first deputy chairperson of the Odessa Oblast Concil and Odessa First Deputy Mayor Sergiy Tetyukhin. The Director General of the Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform, Olexandr Kharchenko, was also there and signed a cooperation agreement with BTA Director General Kiril Valchev.
“The expansion of media space will contribute to the development of the region. In times of war, it is not only important to win with combat actions, but it is also important to win in the information space,” Oleg Radkovskiy said.
“All the people who contribute to the development of the information space understand that such centers will become the epicenter of the media landscape in the Odessa Region, they will get first-hand information about the situation here,” he added.
He thanked BTA for opening a press club amid the sound of the air raid sirens.
Sergiy Tetyukhin also thanked Bulgaria for accepting the Ukrainians in the first days of the war.
“The Odessa Mayor is very thankful and hails from the bottom of his heart the opening of this press club so that you can provide real information about what is happening in Ukraine. You can rely on every support from the local administration,” Tetyukhin said.
Oleksandr Kharchenko said the presence of the BTA people to open the Press Club has “great significance for the city.”
“This is no ordinary event for the city. At the moment I see more than a few reasons to open this press club. Since the very beginning of the Russian aggression, Odessa has become something of a frontier city. You have stood by us and we are hand in hand against Russian propaganda and disinformation that is being waged in this complicated time,” Kharchenko
Kharchenko said the opening of the BTA press club in Odessa will bring many more opportunities to use the knowledge of the Ukrainians.
“You can find various facts about Odessa everywhere, but these sources don’t give you information about the city and the people who inhabit it. You can feel the atmosphere of the city only when you are in it,” he said.
The BTA Press Club will serve as the first permanent bureau of a Bulgarian news outlet in Ukrainian Bessarabia, which is home to some 200,000 ethnic Bulgarians.
In his opening remarks, Valchev said having a BTA press club with a permanent correspondent in Odessa is a sign of support from Bulgaria for the Bulgarians in Ukraine.
"There are 200,000 - 250,000 of them here, and perhaps many more, if we count all those with Bulgarian roots from generations back. And we have to be here - passing on knowledge about their difficult days during the war in Ukraine and trying to provide them with knowledge about Bulgaria. Because war does not stop life," Valchev said.
"News about the Bulgarians in Ukraine, which will be regularly present in the BTA news flow with the possibility to reach all media outlets in Bulgaria, and through the BTA English service, the whole world, will not be limited to Bessarabia, where the Bulgarian diaspora has been concentrated since the 18th century, but will also come from other parts in Ukraine, including those currently under Russian occupation. The news will cover all Bulgarian organizations in Odessa, Bessarabia and other parts of Ukraine," Valchev added.
BTA will deploy Svetlana Dragneva as its first correspondent to Ukraine and is ready to expand the team with contributions to fully cover all events in all Ukrainian Bulgarians.
The BTA Press Club will also organize information events on various opportunities -- from aid for war refugees to training for students at Bulgarian universities and jobs in Bulgaria.
"Its doors are also open to present events of all local Bulgarian organizations," the BTA Director General said.
He announced that BTA is already planning joint events with them - a concert by the supergroup.
"The Foundation" for the Day of Bessarabian Bulgarians is set Oct. 29 and an exhibition dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews,”
"We hope that the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA), in which BTA and Ukrinform are together, will finally follow through on its decision to hold an annual conference in Ukraine, because it is journalists who should not be afraid to be in dangerous places to report the real news," he said.
The Director General announced that next year, it is in Odessa that BTA plans to organize the World Meeting of Bulgarian Media in June, as a sign of respect to the Bulgarians who organize the commemoration of Bulgarian Khan Kubrat, whose treasure was found this month in Malaya Pereshchepina in Ukraine.
"We hope peace will be restored by then and we can go there together. There will be no songs at today's opening event, unlike the opening of the BTA other press clubs, because days of war are better suited to quiet prayer. That is why we have invited the writer Teodora Dimova to present her new book Prayer for Ukraine for the first time. With her presence she sets an example to all, including Bulgarian leaders, who do not dare to come to the Bulgarians in Ukraine these days for fear of the missiles," said Valchev.
He went on to commend the courage of the Consul General of Bulgaria in Odessa, Svetoslav Ivanov, and thanked him, as well as Foreign Ministers Ivan Kondov and Maria Gabriel, for their help in making the necessary arrangements for the opening of the BTA press club.
Valchev also thanked the local and state government of Odessa for their assistance. (BTA)
