site.btaVarna Should Be Included in UNESCO World Heritage List with World's Oldest Gold Treasure and Salt Works, Says BTA Director General

Varna should be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List with the world's oldest gold treasure found in the Varna Necropolis, and the salt works, said BTA Director General Kiril Valchev here Monday. He was speaking during a local conference organized as part of BTA's Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills project. The conference took place at the BTA National Press Club here on Monday.

Valchev noted that BTA's EU-based project Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills aims to facilitate the exchange of knowledge between people in Bulgaria and the Balkans and people from the rest of the European Union, so that people can get to know each other's contribution to the common life in the EU. "We usually hear that Bulgaria receives money from the EU and what remains in our minds is that we Bulgarians are the ones who only benefit from our participation in the EU, but the truth is that the EU also benefits from Bulgarians, just as it benefits from other European nations", Valchev said.

He noted that what the EU receives from Varna is not only the largest city on the Black Sea, but also the heritage of an ancient civilization, which gave the world the oldest processed gold.

He was referring to the gold treasure found in one of the graves in the Varna Chalcolithic necropolis discovered in 1972, which are dated to the period between 4600 and 4200 BC. The volume of the treasure exceeds many times all the gold that has been found from the Stone-Copper Age period in the whole world, Valchev pointed out.

He also said that the oldest salt mining works in Europe, dated from 5500 BC to 4300 BC, was discovered near Provadia, just over 50 km from Varna.

Valchev emphazised that Bulgaria should soon propose that "these sites, where urban life in Europe originated, be included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage". He noted that the gold and salt from antiquity in the Varna region are a symbol of the economic benefits of the access of Europe and of the EU to the Black Sea, he stated.

Submitting the Varna Necropolis gold and the Provadia salt works is one of three things that the BTA Director General believes this country should do. The second is to prepare a public procurement for a new polar research ship, which, like this country's only naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421), will be the flagship of EU scientific research in the Black Sea. The third is to use European funds, especially in investments in Bulgarians, so that they stay in Bulgaria and those who have chosen to live and work abroad, return here.

Valchev also said that a symbol of knowledge - which is in the focus of the BTA project - are also the universities of Varna. He added that BTA will sign an indefinite contract for permanent partnership with the Varna Medical University, as it already has with the other five universities in the city. Thus, BTA will have such contracts with 39 out of a total of 51 universities in Bulgaria by the end of 2025, Valchev pointed out.

He emphasized that the goal is to more visibly present the achievements of universities in Bulgaria and in Varna in particular, so that young people stay to study here, and also so that young people from the Bulgarian communities from the Bessarabian lands near Varna in Ukraine and Moldova move here. Valchev also said that with conferences like this, BTA aims to present Bulgaria's contribution to the EU, so that young Bulgarians stay in the country and Bulgaria retains people who can preserve and pass on to the future the civilization inherited from prehistoric times developed in the Varna Region, Valchev concluded.

BTA's Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills project aims to raise public awareness and foster open dialogue about cohesion policy, local achievements, and the implementation of the EU's policy priorities. The project kicked off with a conference in Veliki Preslav in November 2024. The schedule of conferences until the end of September 2025 includes events in the following cities: Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Gabrovo, Dobrich, Kazanlak, Kardzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Razgrad, Ruse, Samokov, Svishtov, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofia, Stara Zagora, Troyan, Targovishte, Haskovo, Shumen, and Yambol. Cross-border conferences will be held in Belgrade, Bosilegrad, Bucharest, Edirne, Skopje, and Thessaloniki. The project builds on the Europe in the Balkans: A Common Future and Europe in Bulgaria: A Common Future projects, implemented by BTA in 2023 and 2024, respectively.