site.btaBTA, Union of Disabled People in Bulgaria Sign Partnership Agreement

The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) and the Union of Disabled People in Bulgaria (UDPB) signed a partnership agreement on December 3, International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The document was signed by BTA Director General Kiril Valchev and UDPB Chair Georgi Kolev.

Valchev said that BTA makes every effort to provide an accessible environment for people with disabilities, both in terms of information on the agency's website and accessibility to the agency's building. According to the contract, UDPB will systematically provide BTA information about its activities, he explained.

Valchev presented Kolev with copies of BTA's first news item on the establishment of the Union on December 14, 1989, as well as with a copy of a news item of October 12, 1992, on the adoption of a decision by the UN General Assembly to designate December 3 as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Addressing the ceremony, Kolev thanked BTA for its efforts to improve accessibility to its building. He noted that UDPB is the largest organization in Bulgaria with a total of 26,032 members with different types of disabilities. The organization has structures in over 300 locations and has established itself as a national representative organization.

BTA is constantly striving to make its building more accessible. At end-2023, the agency commissioned a new panoramic elevator, built with funds from the BTA budget, as well as a new parking lot implemented under the Beautiful Bulgaria project. There are two handicapped parking spaces in the parking lot for employees and visitors, and another one in the staff car park.

A new wheelchair ramp at the main entrance also makes the agency's building more accessible. Electric handicap ramps are also available in front of BTA's Maxim Hall as well as in front of the agency's National Press Club.