The head of the 32nd Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition, Prof. Hristo Pimpirev, handed over letters from the mayor of Burgas, Dimitar Nikolov, and the rector of the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” Prof. Dr. Georgi Valchev with proposals for the partnership of the Argentine city of Comodoro Rivadavia, where there are about 2,000 descendants of Bulgarians who moved a century ago. Together with a group from the expedition, he arrived in the largest city of the province of Chubut in Patagonia with the Bulgarian military research ship “St. St. Cyril and Methodius”, who is returning to Bulgaria from the Bulgarian base on Livingston Island in Antarctica.
The mayor of Komodoro Rivadavia, Otar Makarashvili, returned a letter to the mayor of Burgas, with which he accepted the proposal for partnership and to take further steps for the twinning of the two cities. He signed the letter during a meeting of the Bulgarian Antarctic explorers and the crew with the Bulgarian community in the center of its company, which bears the same name as the ship – “St. St. Cyril and Methodius”.
The Rector of the National University of Patagonia “San Juan Bosco” Prof. Lidia Blanco also accepted the offer of partnership with Sofia University.
Meetings with representatives of the town hall and administration of the province of Chubut were part of the expedition group, which included the ambassador of Bulgaria to Argentina Stoyan Mihailova, the rector of the Higher Naval School (VVMU) – Varna fleet admiral prof. Boyan Mednikarov, the general director of the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA) Kiril Valchev and others.
Tsenka Genova, chairman of the Bulgarian society in Comodoro Rivadavia “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” and Ruzhka Nikolova, chairman of the Argentine-Bulgarian Foundation in Buenos Aires, which also represents the Federation of Bulgarian Societies in Argentina, established in 2022. They received from Kiril Valchev the medal issued by the Mint of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of BTA, celebrated last year. The two undertook to regularly send news from the Bulgarian community in Argentina, which BTA would publish in the “BG World” section.
In the letter to the mayor of Komodoro Rivadavia, Burgas mayor Dimitar Nikolov writes that as friendly cities they can successfully exchange experience and ideas in order to partner in the implementation of common projects. “I am sure that a future partnership would be useful in areas such as economy, environment, culture, tourism. I am optimistic that the bilateral relations between Burgas and Comodoro Rivadavia will acquire deeper content”, writes Dimitar Nikolov.
“We decided to come here because of the Bulgarian community in the city. But now we already have many friends here and with Comodoro Rivadavia we can have a very close relationship. Just like Comodoro Rivadavia, Burgas is a port with an oil refinery, and it is also a university town, just as in Burgas there is a branch of Sofia University”, noted Prof. Hristo Pimpirev.
In the letter delivered by Prof. Pimpirev to the rector of the National University of Patagonia “San Juan Bosco” Prof. Lidia Blanco, the rector of the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski Prof. Dr. Georgi Valchev expresses the intention and desire of the Bulgarian University for cooperation with educational institutions in the city of Comodoro Rivadavia. “I am sure that the partnership between the institutions will be fruitful and can develop in different directions. We can also successfully exchange experience and ideas in order to partner in the realization of common projects in the field of science”, writes Prof. Valchev.
In addition to accepting the idea of a partnership with Sofia University, Prof. Blanco also discussed with Admiral Mednikarov the possibilities of a partnership with VVMU. According to her, the National University of Patagonia “San Juan Bosco”, founded in 1970, named after the canonized Italian Catholic priest who carried out educational activities in Latin America in the 19th century, has 20,000 students, 2,000 teachers and another 500 researchers. .
“This visit shows the importance of the Bulgarian community in Comodoro Rivadavia, as well as the importance of the future twinning with Burgas,” said the vice-governor of the province of Chubut, Gustavo Mena, at a joint press conference with the Bulgarian representatives.
The Chairman of the Knowledge Agency for Growth and Development of Comodoro Rivadavia, Ruben Zarate, said that this visit provides an opportunity not only for shared memories, but also for a future together with the local Bulgarian community in the city. “This meeting is also an opportunity for the twinning of Burgas in Bulgaria and Comodoro Rivadavia in Argentina, and therefore I especially thank the Mayor of Burgas, Dimitar Nikolov, for the letter with this proposal. This is also the wish of the mayor of Comodoro Rivadavia”, emphasized Ruben Zarate.
The Ambassador of Bulgaria to Argentina, Stoyan Mihailov, noted Bulgaria’s strong desire to deepen and expand ties with Comodoro Rivadavia. “We have a wonderful opportunity to realize this through the ship, which is a symbol of opportunity. In addition, we have this strong base, which is the Bulgarian association “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” with the same name as the ship. The warm welcome we have is a sign of the strong desire to work together”, said Ambassador Mihailov.
The future ambassador of Argentina to Bulgaria, Alejandro Mayet, expressed the desire of the Argentine Foreign Ministry to develop and deepen relations with Bulgaria in Antarctica, which, in his words, are one of the most important connections between the two countries. “I want to congratulate you for everything you are doing in Antarctica and for everything the Bulgarian community is doing in this city,” said Alejandro Mayet.
The head of the Military Academy of Military Academy, Admiral of the Fleet, Prof. Ph.D. Boyan Mednikarov thanked the maritime people of Argentina. “In these two expeditions of the Bulgarian ship to Antarctica, I had the opportunity to contact many of them and I want to express our special and most sincere thanks to them. Special thanks also to the Argentine Navy for their help and positive attitude. Thanks to this help, three of our officers took a special course in sailing in Antarctic conditions and we received many valuable lessons in how to cope in this new sea unknown to us by sailing among icebergs and in ice field conditions landing machinery and equipment ashore . Today I saw that in Argentina we have another wonderful “Bulgarian” port, besides Mar del Plata – Comodoro Rivadavia. I hope that this first visit to “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” in Comodoro Rivadavia is only the first step of our cooperation”, said Admiral Mednikarov. He emphasized to the Bulgarian community that he has relatives in Argentina, one of whom attended the meeting in Comodoro Rivadavia.
The commander of NIK 421 Captain II Rank Nikolay Danailov described the reception of the Bulgarian ship in Commodore Rivadavia as incredible. “For the second time, we are sailing in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Argentina and are gradually studying its ports. We visited Mar del Plata and Ushuaia, but here we felt the Bulgarian thread. It is an incredible feeling to sing the Bulgarian national anthem on the pier in Comodoro Rivadavia, for which I am extremely grateful on behalf of my crew. I believe that Bulgaria will continue to be present in Antarctica and Argentina”, said Captain II rank Danailov.
Before the meeting with the Bulgarian community on February 17, the film about the descendants of the Bulgarians in Argentina “Scattered in the Lower Earth” by the journalist from the Bulgarian National Television Maria Cherneva was presented at the Petroleum Museum in Comodoro Rivadavia.
Apart from the Argentine-Bulgarian Foundation in Buenos Aires and the company “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” in Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut Province, (registered in 1989), the Bulgarian descendants in Argentina also have the Bulgarian Cultural Society “Ivan Vazov” in Beriso (founded 1955), the Cultural Society “Vasil Levski” in town of Las Brenyas, Chaco province, and “Hristo Botev” company in the town of Presidency Roque Sanes Peña, Chaco province, which with its more than 70 years is the oldest Bulgarian organization in Argentina. The descendants of the Bulgarians in Argentina also have ensembles – “Tangra”, “Kirilcheta”, Rodina” and others.
Comodoro Rivadavia has a population of about 180,000 and is the largest city south of the 45th parallel in the center of the coast of San Jorge Bay. It is the largest city in the province of Chibut in the Argentine part of Patagonia with a total of 600,000 inhabitants. The city was founded in 1901 and named after Commodore Martin Rivadavia, who initiated the development of the southern parts of Argentina. After the discovery of oil in the area in 1907, many emigrants came to Comodoro Rivadavia, including from Bulgaria, to work in the oil fields and the refinery built in 1922. A 1,770-kilometer gas pipeline to the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, was also built.
On the morning of February 18, the Bulgarian ship is expected to set sail from Comodoro Rivadavia for another Argentine port – Mar del Plata and then stop at the Brazilian port of Rio Grande before crossing the Atlantic Ocean on its way to Varna, where it is expected to return at the beginning of April.
BTA
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