site.btaObservances: December 19

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1996: A contract is signed for the sale of a 60% shareholding in Sodi EAD, Devnya, to Solvay of Belgium for 160 million US dollars. The deal is finalized on April 15, 1997.

1998: The National Assembly amends the Territorial Administration of the Republic of Bulgaria Act, dividing the country's territory into 28 regions instead of the previous nine.

2001: Parliament adopts a declaration recommending the Government to dismantle definitively the SS-23 missile system by October 30, 2002.

2002: The Council of Ministers decides to resume construction of a nuclear power plant at Belene (Northwestern Bulgaria), put on hold in 1991.