site.btaBulgarian National Bank Celebrates 145th Anniversary with Exhibition

Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) Governor Dimitar Radev unveiled an exhibition dedicated to the Bank's 145th anniversary here on Friday. The exhibition presents BNB's history through documents and photographs, the Bank said.

The Bank will offer free admittance to its central building on Saturday, between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Visitors will have the opportunity to see the boardroom where some of the most important decisions in the country's financial and banking history have been taken, the gallery with oil portraits of the BNB governors, the governor's office, the BNB museum collection, the operational lounge for customers. They can also receive a souvenir banknote with their face depicted on it.

The BNB was established on January 25, 1879, after Knyaz Alexander Dondukov-Korsakov approved its Charter. The Central Bank was officially opened on May 23, 1879, by its Governor, Ludovig Carbonneur. The first banking operation was carried out on June 6, 1879, when the state deposited 8,687,043 francs, of which 2,000,000 francs were earmarked for the Bank's capital.