Magdalena Gigova Becomes First Winner of Maxim Minchev Award by Bulgarian Association of Journalists, Travel Writers

Dimitrina Solakova

Magdalena Gigova receiving the Maxim Minchev Award, Sofia, June 5, 2024 (BTA Photo)

Sofia,

05.06.2024 19:53

(BTA)

Magdalena Gigova is the first winner of the Maxim Minchev Award, presented by the Bulgarian Association of Journalists and Travel Writers (ABUJET) and named after the Bulgarian News Agency's (BTA) director general from 2003 to 2020. The award ceremony took place at BTA's MaxiM Hall in Sofia on Wednesday evening.

In her speech, Gigova said: "Each of us travels and tells the story, and that is how we actually keep the memory of Maxim Minchev alive. Because he was best at doing exactly that: travel, tell the story and build friendships." Minchev, who passed away in 2020, would have turned 71 on June 5. "We have not forgotten you. You deserve everything we are doing and it is not even enough," Gigova commented.

She received the award from Minchev's son, Kristiyan Minchev, and Assoc Prof Sonya Alexieva, at whose initiative the ABUJET established the Maxim Minchev Award. Also attending the event wеre Minchev's wife and ABUJET head, Natali, Deputy Minister of Tourism Pavlin Petrov, journalist Georgi Milkov, PR expert Maxim Behar, and publisher Neyko Genchev, among others.

ABUJET Secretary General Plamen Starev told the story of the association, listing some of its founders and members over the years, including Valeri Petrov, Ivayla Valkova, Yasen Antov, and Maxim Minchev.

Petrov told the attending journalists that they can rely on the Tourism Ministry as a reliable partner for future projects. "Without you, Bulgaria would not be such a preferred destination by millions of tourists both from Bulgaria and abroad," he added.

Within Wednesday's event, the book On the Roads of Africa by Maxim Minchev was presented for the first time. It is Minchev's last book and comes out nearly four years after his passing. Readers will learn about the author's experiences on 15 African routes that cross Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Eswatini, Sao Tome and Principe and Sudan. The book includes a foreword by former foreign minister Solomon Passy.

Maxim Minchev (1953-2020) was a journalist, writer, traveller, erudite and an intellectual. Throughout his lifetime he visited nearly 140 countries, which inspired him to write The Seventh Mine (1982), Lipton's Luck (1999), Atlantic Passages (2004), Mirage Seekers (2015), among other books.

/RY/