Bulgarian Govt Promises Funding for 4 Key Archaeological Reserves

Bulgaria's Finance Minister Simeon Djankov has promised to provide funding for four archaeological reserves in the northeastern Shumen District.

Djankov visited Monday the site of Veliki Preslav, the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire in 893-971 AD.

He said he could allocate about BGN 180 000 from Bulgaria's state budget for the territorial organization plans of the archaeological sites around Shumen that are related to the history of the First Bulgarian Empire.

"We have great archaeologists working here, and we have many completed projects. We can come up with new projects by the spring. So we are definitely interested not only because we love archaeology but also because of tourism and the large numbers of tourists," Djankov explained the position of the Finance Ministry.

He did stress that Bulgaria needs to offer "more complete" tourist products.

"For the time being, we are presenting only a small part – about 5% of Pliska (the first capital of the First Bulgarian Empire in 681-893 AD – editor's note), and about 15% from Veliki Preslav. The rest hasn't been developed. I think we need to take the next big step so that if you are a tourist from Germany or England, we can tell you exactly what we want to show you. These people are probably not that interested in the fact that Bulgaria originated here," the Deputy PM elaborated.

"These people want to see something that is connected to them – knights or some kind of a script, or some secret passages. I think the good story about Pliska and Veliki Preslav hasn't reached the level at which we can tell it to a non-Slavic European yet," Djankov added.

He did stress that the future construction of the northern Hemus Highway between Sofia and Varna will help boost cultural and historical tourism in the Shumen District.