a leading company in the global defense industry chose the town of Simitli as the site of its second plant in Bulgaria The plan there is to implement high-tech innovative production of over 100 models of specialized logistical combat and tactical vehicles - armored vehicles for the army The planned amount of the investment is 2.5 million euros as a result of which 25 new jobs will be created The company's first Bulgarian plant in Burgas will open on October 1 this year IAG was looking at Plovdiv and Blagoevgrad for its next production locations The reason is that the smaller town has an industrial zone good administrative organization and its local investment policy is at a very high level the CEO and owner of the International Armored Group because Blagoevgrad has not developed its investment policy yet and the attitude towards investors has not changed - it is still subject to changes and evolution." The National Company of Industrial Zones (NCIZ) on whose land in Simitli the new plant will be built stated that the establishment of this type of plant in Bulgaria is a strategic step in the national military industry of European significance This will be IAG's second investment in Bulgaria on industrial land purchased by NCIZ under the Investment Promotion Act The company has an "Investor Class A" certificate awarded as early as 2023 by the country’s government IAG broke ground on its plant near the city of Burgas on the site of the Industrial and Logistics Park - Burgas the production of over 160 types of specialized and combat equipment is set to begin there Founded by Bulgarian-Canadian Anton Stefov International Armored Group is the first brand in the world to produce a special type of ballistic glass that provides the highest level of protection IAG is also among the leaders in the production of fully protected armored cars worldwide The company supplies specialized vehicles for international organizations such as the UN and NATO and has production bases in other countries such as the USA plus there are offices in Great Britain and Pakistan in addition to Bulgaria A new case of intentional poisoning of specimens of the protected species of griffon vulture has been established near Simitli the team of the non-governmental organization Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna (FWFF) received a signal about a distressed griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) near Simitli the organization's experts determined that it was an adult bird from the griffon vulture colony in the Kresna Gorge and the observed behavior of the bird suggested poisoning The bird was caught and transported for veterinary medical assistance in Blagoevgrad Due to the assumption of the use of poisons or poisonous baits in nature by the FWFF an immediate examination was carried out of all GPS transmitters in the internet panel where the movement and behavior of the specimens is monitored The team found that there was a second distressed Griffon vulture between the villages of Cherniche and Simitli The FWFF team checked the data from the transmitter and found that the bird had landed and stayed for a long time near a farm in the village of Moshanets Both specimens were immediately given atropine (an antidote used in acute poisoning) at the place where the second distressed vulture had landed The team of the Wild Flora and Fauna Fund immediately reported the incident to 112 The Ministry of Environment and Water and the organization reported the Crimes Against the Environment and Wildlife Sector to the General Directorate of the National Police (GDNP) at the Ministry of Interior and instructions were given on what actions to take on site three different teams went to the site - a police patrol representatives of the inspectorate of the Municipality of Blagoevgrad as well as the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) The teams inspected and took samples from the found animal carcasses the terrain was secured in order to prevent subsequent poisoning of protected and other animal species The FWFF has intensified the monitoring of all other vulture transmitters in the area - currently there are data on two more poisoned griffon vultures bringing the total number of affected birds to six when for two weeks the teams of non-governmental organizations working with vultures in Bulgaria could not find the poisoned bait (again a whole cow carcass) This led to the gradual destruction of over 40 griffon vultures What is unusual now is that the cow carcass used for bait is in the middle of an enclosure with an electric fence The Ministry of Environment and Water expresses hope that the damage from the loss of griffon vultures will be limited The FWFF estimates that the losses may reach about 15 specimens of the species Experts base their expectations on the well-developed early warning system GPS transmitters and the approved "National Action Plan for Combating the Illegal Use of Poisons in Wildlife 2021-2030" as well as on the international training of specialists from the police and the prosecution in the country We would like to draw your attention to the fact that during the breeding season that has already begun this year there has been a record number of new pairs in the Kresna Gorge - 11 birds that have already bred and at least 3 more pairs preparing their nests the damage has yet to be determined and several clutches will probably be compromised due to the loss of at least one of the partners in the pairs The griffon vulture is recovering in Bulgaria through targeted efforts to reintroduce the species prevention in local communities against the use of poisons provision of safe feeding grounds are being undertaken The current incident is still of unclear scale but it is certain that it represents an irreparable loss of specimens of a protected species for which many years of efforts and financial resources have been invested in its recovery in the country This includes LIFE projects funded by the European Union implemented and/or funded by numerous national and international conservation and scientific organizations The griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) is included in Annex No and the species is marked with an asterisk (*) Since there is a colony of griffon vultures in Kresna and given that the species feeds on carrion it is highly vulnerable to the setting of poisoned baits for predators the Ministry of Environment and Water is funding fencing and securing sites for safe feeding of vultures under the procedure for the selection of project proposals BG16FFPR002-3.011 - Implementation of measure 70 of the National Framework for Priority Actions for NATURA 2000 under priority 3 "Biodiversity" of the Environment Programme 2021-2027 in order to improve the condition of the protected bird species of Black Vulture (A079 Aegypius monachus) Egyptian Vulture (A077 Neophron percnopterus) The project includes feeding in existing sites in the protected areas of the NATURA 2000 network and is implemented with a grant with a total value of of 5.134 million BGN Organizations engaged in conservation and restoration activities: BIOPARC Zoo de Doue and Sainte Croix Zoo (France) Black Vulture Conservation Foundation (BVCF) reverse traffic will be in effect on a section of the Sofia - Kulata road at the connection of the first-class road with the “Struma“ highway and the “Simitli“ road junction This is reported by the “Road Infrastructure” Agency The goal is to facilitate travel for the May 1 and St George's Day holidays and the expected heavy traffic Two lanes will be provided in the direction of Kulata and one lane in the direction of Sofia which will ease the burden on travelers heading towards the border with Greece the permanent organization of traffic with two lanes in the direction of Sofia and one lane for Kulata will be restored More news from Bulgaria A plant for high-tech innovative manufacture of special-purpose and military vehicles will be built in the southwestern Simitli Municipality the Ministry of Economy and Industry said on Tuesday The facility will occupy an area of 153,000 square metres in a high-tech manufacturing park registered last year by National Company Industrial Zones (NCIZ) The plant will put out over 100 models of logistical including armoured vehicles for the armed forces emergency medical care centres and the special forces and its scale will increase gradually depending on the contracts signed The building of such a plant in Bulgaria is a strategic step of national and European significance It is the second investment by International Armoured Group Bulgaria (IAG BG) on land owned by NCIZ an international manufacturer of military and special-purpose vehicles which is among the world leaders in the production of fully armoured vehicles The company supplies special-purpose vehicles to the United Nations and NATO and has manufacturing facilities around the world Contacts +359 2 9262 210 By accepting cookies you can enjoy a better experience while browsing pages The Council of Ministers approved a roadmap for the completion of Struma motorway an open tender for preliminary design is to be launched in February 2025 for the uncompleted Simitli-Kresna section The route will be constructed outside Kresna Gorge A contract is to be concluded with the contractor in June and there should be an investment project by December 2027 The 14-kilometre long section should be ready by June the E-79 road through Kresna Gorge will only be regarded as supplementary and will not be part of the Western lane of the motorway Completing Struma motorway is also connected with national security because it provides transport connectivity with Romania and Greece Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev has left for Washington where he will participate in the Munich Leaders Meeting (May 5-7 The forum is organised by the Munich Security Conference The foundation Unity- Kočani has sent an open letter to key Bulgarian institutions expressing gratitude for the support and humanitarian assistance provided by Bulgaria after the tragedy of the fire at a nightclub in Kočani The foreign ministers of Bulgaria and Greece Georg Georgiev and Giorgos Gerapetritis signed a joint declaration on the use of the waters of the river Arda on 2 May the BNR reports citing an announcement published by the Greek Foreign Ministry.. people will be able to withdraw money  from ATMs only in the new currency according to the website of the Bulgarian. helicopters of the Bulgarian Air Force will fly at low altitude over Sofia in preparation for a military parade marking the Day. The Bulgarian student teams that participated in the European Olympiad of Experimental Sciences EOES 2025 in Zagreb have returned with. english@bnr.bg HOT: » What kind of news would you like to see more of? The strongest earthquake in the Balkans and in continental Europe for the last 150 years was registered in 1904 in the village of Krupnik the area was shaken by two powerful earthquakes of 7.8 and 7.2 on the Richter scale Tremors in the area of the villages of Krupnik and Kresna continue to be frequent even today A special station measures seismic activity in the village around the clock Turkey and Greece are located between the African and European plates The African plate slips under the European plate and these earthquakes occur The equipment is quite sensitive and advanced The earthquake in Turkey was weakly felt - as a trace" on duty at the seismic station in the village of Krupnik The small village of Krupnik was destroyed there was no high-rise construction either everyone knows details and legends about the earthquake it is something like an emblem and advertisement of the settlement But they admit that their biggest fears are related to earthquakes That is why they closely follow all the news about earthquakes as well as curious forecasts in this direction It's been 119 years since the devastating 7.8 on the Richter scale but locals say they're trembling lest the fault beneath them wakes up Most people have heard of a theory that there was a 100-year cycle in major cataclysms Some believe in this and are baptized when the earth shakes They are glad that they got away with a slight setback and say - so be it let the earth unclog and not build up tension The locals do not hide that they like to talk about everything - about politics They say they have heightened sensitivity on this subject a construction law is in force for the settlement which no one dares to circumvent or ignore - if you build a house anti-earthquake foundations are made to withstand 9 degrees on the Richter scale This is the only thing about which there is no dispute and no funds are spared And these rules have been followed in construction for at least 70 years "Living on a rift is something like feeling doomed if it hits seriously - where will you run," the elders say The younger ones admit that they don't think about these things they wave their hand and say - whatever comes There is a seismological station in Krupnik the equipment registers several earthquakes a day in the area the station says that it was both vertical and horizontal they literally pretend that it is not there That's how they found a way to overcome their fears They have an impressive temple and believe that they are blessed so most do not believe that the violent earthquake of 1904 will ever happen again And the historical facts about the biggest earthquake say that it struck in the span 20 minutes 7.2 and 7.8 on the Richter scale and between the two tremors the ground shook another 51 times The great earthquake was felt over an area of 1,400,000 square kilometers throughout Aegean and Vardar Macedonia Data indicate that it was felt as far away as Budapest The villages of Krupnik and Simitli were razed to the ground Damage was caused in Gorna Jumaya now called Blagoevgrad According to the Gorna Jumaya newspaper "Vesti" at the time two people died in the town and four were injured The military hospital and the Turkish barracks collapsed cracks opened on the roads and reddish muddy water gushed out it was written in the "Vesti" newspaper at the time the story of the shepherd grandfather Stoine is passed down from generation to generation That day at noon he happened to be with his herd high above the river in the Kresnen rift when he suddenly saw below him how the earth split open and the Struma stopped there The water began to sink into the bowels of the canyon The surrounding hills were stripped away in seconds The grandfather saved himself because he happened to be at the top and he witnessed how everything around him changed before his eyes the Struma river sank into a huge water cave The entire landscape of the area was changed after the devastating earthquake they cross themselves and bless God that they survived Follow Novinite.com on Twitter and Facebook Write to us at editors@novinite.com Информирайте се на Български - Novinite.bg We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria Bulgaria commemorates one of its most significant national holidays – the Day of Saint George the Victorious and the official Day of the Bulgarian Army all retailers in Bulgaria will be required to display prices in both leva and euros Employers in Bulgaria are legally required to implement all necessary measures to prevent and minimize workplace accidents a major British tour operator specializing in holidays to Bulgaria has halted all its operations effective April 24 Wage growth in Bulgaria is projected at 9.3 percent for 2025 a 15.4 percent rise in the minimum wage since January The World Bank has revised down its forecast for Bulgaria’s economic growth in 2025 Israel has turned to Bulgaria for assistance in battling the rapidly advancing wildfires in areas near Jerusalem The Bulgarian mobile operator A1 has confirmed that it is experiencing technical difficulties affecting both calls and text messages across its network A series of minor earthquakes were recorded in the Nessebar area with the strongest tremor measuring 3.3 on the Richter scale A woman sustained serious injuries after being attacked with pepper spray and an electroshock device and subsequently set on fire inside a hospital in the Bulgarian town of Botevgrad A 25-year-old man is in critical condition following an accident at the amusement park in Yambol A serious traffic accident in the Bulgarian town of Harmanli has left a 13-year-old child in critical condition after he was struck by a car while riding an electric scooter Google Street View Cars Return to Bulgaria for Major Mapping Update Housing Prices Soar in Bulgaria’s Major Cities as Demand and Supply Strain Increase The former football referee and son of the mayor of Simitli Stefan Apostolov was the absolute champion in preferences with over 9 000 preferences in the November 2021 elections Avramov once again registered impressive electoral successes Абонирайте се за бюлетина на АКФ, за да научавате за най-новите ни разследвания и анализи: С натискане на бутона потвърждавате, че сте запознати с Политиката ни за поверителност The ACF’s report on the interim results from 2 October in 29 polling stations specifically in the municipality of Simitli shows that Apostolov again rearranged the GERB-SDS list in the Blagoevgrad MIR he received over 90% of the preferences submitted for the coalition in 21 precincts And these are the results only from the municipality of Simitli – in the whole municipal region of Blagoevgrad the preferences for Apostolov increased to 7357 especially in the context of low turnout across the country We appeal to the Ministry of Interior and the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate this phenomenon Stay tuned for ACF’s complete analysis of the results from polling stations at risk of election fraud and controlled voting See the story of Stefan Apostolov and the other preference champions in the ACF film. Поради технически затруднения в момента криптираната форма за подаване на сигнали не е достъпна Можете да пратите сигнала си на acf@acf.bg Ви съветваме да използвате Tor Browser и Proton mail the Simitliya- the festival of mummers will be held at the Simitli Stadium will bring together over 30 local and foreign groups from neighbouring Macedonia and Greece The performances will start from 10 am on January 12th Over 20,000 people each year watch how animal-dressed scary masks dancing men drive away evil forces and beg for fertility for the upcoming year The participants each year exceed 5000 people The groups will be evaluated in several categories – for overall presentation authenticity and recreation of the ritual tradition and others from the municipalities of Elin Pelin from the Macedonian towns of Veles and Delchevsko have declared their participation Undoubtedly there are a lot of amazing places around the world worth visiting at least once in life Bulgaria is such a place where you will wish to come back again and again In every season and every region of this small country More than 7,000 people will take part in the XIX Kukeri Games Festival "Simitliya - The Ancient Land of Kukeri" this weekend (January 14-15) in the town of Simitli every year on the second Saturday of January participants from all over Bulgaria gather in the southern Bulgarian town to drive away the "evil spirits" During the weekend full of music and dances Each group will parade for about half an hour the number of participants increases and the festival has become an emblem of the city of Simitli the interest in the holiday is very high and this year after the lifting of restrictions related to the pandemic groups from neighboring countries will also take part in the festival Entry is free and everyone is welcome to enjoy the festive atmosphere the Czech artist and folklorist Ludvík Kuba travelled to Bulgaria with one goal in mind: to explore the country's rich song heritage The melodies he collected were published in a separate volume of his Slavic Song. the feasts of Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday are related holidays From Lazarus Saturday  (Lazarovden in Bulgaria) which is performed on the morning of Palm Sunday In April and May the visitors of the Strelcha Historical Museum will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the traditions connected with the Easter holiday cycle through the exhibition A Fine Easter Tonight the traffic on the newly constructed 2.7 km of Struma Motorway in the section Zheleznitsa - Simitli /from km 370+400 to km 373+100/ which is a subdivision of Lot 3.1 Blagoevgrad - Krupnik will be launched The permit for the use of the section was handed over today by the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works architect Ivan Shishkov Together with Deputy Minister Zahari Hristov and the Chairperson of the Board of the Road Infrastructure Agency Engineer Ivo Ivanov he was on the route The traffic in the direction of Sofia will be entirely on the newly built section and in the direction of Kulata the traffic will pass on the first class road I-1 Sofia-Kulata and partly on the motorway “We have fast-tracked the work to get the stretch up and running and to ease the traffic in the area albeit minimally,” the minister said He explained that the landslide before the Zheleznitsa tunnel already has a reinforcement project ready and is pending approval from the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works The idea is to release the traffic in two stages the builder will complete the first stage of strengthening so that all traffic in the direction of Sofia it became clear from the words of architect Shishkov This will greatly ease the traffic in this direction The builder has committed to completing the strengthening of the entire landslide so that the entire section can be launched is small and will be resolved before traffic starts and it does not pose a serious problem for the opening of the route that we will have a tunnel but we will not have a road to it and that turned out to be true,” the regional minister recalled He added that he had already commissioned the design of the landslide last year This particular stretch is part and example of the chaos with road infrastructure in the country “When we don’t have complete projects we come to this situation - the motorway ends suddenly and we struggle in some form to launch temporary traffic organisation to relieve traffic as much as possible even on the few motorways that are being built,” Ivan Shishkov stressed He reiterated that all sections and all constructions in Bulgaria are put into operation with a permit for use To solve the problem of traffic through the Kresna Gorge the minister said that hard work is being done but there is currently a procedure where the Ministry of Environment and Water is the lead and a final technical decision has to be taken on the way traffic will pass there located on either side of the future Zheleznitsa tunnel and the track adjacent to it from Blagoevgrad to the roundabout with the I-1 Sofia - Kulata road before the under-construction Zheleznitsa tunnel The second section from the village of Zheleznitsa to the village of Krupnik /from km 370+400 to km 376+000/ is 5.6 km long The first subdivision from the village of Zheleznitsa to Simitli /from km 370+400 to km 373+100/ is now open for traffic and is 2.7 km long The last 2,9 km subdivision from Simitli to Krupnik /from km 373+100 to km 376+000/ will be constructed after the confirmation of the decision for the construction of Lot 3.2 Krupnik - Kresna and depending on the court decision on the ruling of the Ministry of Environment and Water No 9- OS/01.08.2022 The contractor of the construction of the section is the alliance “Company under the Obligations and Contracts Act Motorway Struma 3.1” The construction supervision is carried out by the Company under the Obligations and Contracts Act “SN Motorway Struma Lot 3.1” The project for the construction of Lot 3.1 Blagoevgrad - Krupnik of the Struma Motorway is co-financed by the Cohesion Fund of the European Union and the national budget through OP Transport and Transport Infrastructure 2014-2020 Increased traffic to Sofia and other major cities in the last of the series of holidays The checks of the “Traffic Police” are also continuing more than 8,000 employees are participating in the actions during the holidays The busiest are the routes along the highways as well as to the border points - mostly from Greece and Turkey There was a traffic jam in the Simitli area on Monday afternoon In the direction of the “Struma“ the column barely moves the blockage on the road from Bansko reaches the village of Gradevo and on E-79 from Kresna through the entire gorge to Simitli The 500 meters to the start of the highway after Simitli is very slow because of the confluence of the two streams After taking over the traffic from "Struma" there is no problem with moving in the direction of Sofia And today there were traffic changes on the “Hemus” highway to avoid traffic jams In the tunnel “Topli dol" two lanes were separated in the direction of Sofia and one towards Varna Through “Praveski inns" there were two lanes in the direction of Sofia and traffic to Varna was restricted A huge traffic jam has also formed on AM "Thrakia" in the direction of Sofia The traffic jam was in the Pazardzhik area - around the 90th kilometer Cars were moving extremely slowly on the autobahn traffic was absolutely blocked in the section between Plovdiv and Sofia The small southwestern town of Simitli hosted Saturday a huge festival of "kukeri" a beloved Bulgarian folklore tradition with roots from Ancient Thrace The Kukeri ritual is performed between Christmas and Lent by costumed men with scary animal masks who walk around and dance to scare away the evil spirits Similar rituals can also be found in Romania Over 2000 kukeri from a total of 15 groups Southwestern Bulgaria - from Blagoevgrad Kyustendil – as well as from Karlovo in central Bulgaria and from the town of Berovo in Macedonia – gathered in Simitli for the traditional dances They attracted some 10 000 spectators - more than the actual population of the town The youngest mummer was a one-year-old kid The kukeri tradition is performed all over Bulgaria; one of the most famous performance is the Surva Festival in the city of Pernik More about the Bulgarian folklore tradition "Kukeri" READ HERE Mummers aged from 1 to 85 gathered in Simitli Saturday the obstetrics and gynecology department at the "Rahila Angelova" Multi-Profile Hospital in Pernik will be shut down due to a significant shortage of medical staff with measures in place from January 30 to February 5 Three new regions in Bulgaria have declared a flu epidemic following the increased spread of the virus where two young people were found dead after a day-long search by relatives and volunteers who was reported missing yesterday afternoon A 43-year-old seasonal worker was killed in the Pernik village of Rasnik during the night Bulgaria is steadily establishing itself as a leading destination for digital nomads from across Europe and beyond the Orthodox Church marks Bright Wednesday a day dedicated to honoring the Holy Virgin Mary regarded as the most significant Christian holiday is celebrated annually in Bulgarian homes with great joy Holy Saturday marks the final day of Holy Week positioned between the sadness of Christ’s entombment and the joy of His anticipated resurrection