site.btaChildren's Art Exhibition Opened in Odesa in Honour of Bessarabial Bulgarians' Day

An exhibition of children's drawings inspired by Bulgaria was opened on Saturday, October 26, at the All-Ukrainian Centre for Bulgarian Culture in Odesa, Ukraine.

The presented children's works participated in a competition dedicated to the Day of Bessarabian Bulgarians, organized by the Consulate General of Bulgaria in Odesa in partnership with the All-Ukrainian Centre for Bulgarian Culture in Odessa.

The guests of the event were the Consul General of Bulgaria in Odesa Svetoslav Ivanov, Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev, All-Ukrainian Centre for Bulgarian Culture Director Dimitar Terzi, Vaisala Mayor Petar Boychev, Kalchevo Mayor Georgi Kasim, Karakurt Mayor Elena Zhecheva, teachers and students from the All-Ukrainian Centre for Bulgarian Culture and representatives of the Bulgarian community in Odesa.

The exhibition was opened with a welcome speech by Consul General Svetoslav Ivanov, who noted that the children's exhibition marks the beginning of a series of events on Saturday celebrating the Day of the Bessarabian Bulgarians. He also thanked Kiril Valchev, the Bulgarian News Agency and its National Press Club in Odesa for the cooperation in organizing a meeting and reception on the occasion of the holiday.

First Secretary Boris Borisov said that the drawings that participated in the competition were on a variety of topics and it was extremely difficult for the commission to decide which one should be awarded as the best, so they chose to award six children.

Zlata Rabatseva, Taya Deneva, Alexander Bogdan, Maria Tolomdzhik, Svetoslav Konabalchik, Alina Novitskaya received kits with art supplies. 

Odesa Province is home to the third largest community of expatriate Bulgarians, numbering more than 150,000 people, according to an official population census in Ukraine in 2001. Between 50,000 and 60,000 Bulgarians live in the provincial capital, Odesa. Bulgarians in the province are concentrated in the districts of Bolhrad, Izmail, and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi.