site.btaVarna Mayor Welcomes British Ambassador on His First Visit to Seaside City

Mayor of Varna Blagomir Kotsev received British Ambassador to Bulgaria Nathaniel Copsey here on Tuesday. That was the diplomat's first visit to the seaside city, Varna Municipality said in a press release. 

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Mayor for Health, Social Affairs and Tourism Snezhana Apostolova and Deputy Mayor for Finance and Budget Hristo Rafailov. 

"Varna is a city with six universities and many foreign students. One of the challenges facing our governance is to turn Varna into a major educational centre, on the one hand, and to keep young people here, on the other. This is a serious challenge and it goes through the relationship with both business and the State. In recent years, Varna has developed mainly as a centre of maritime tourism and has lagged behind in terms of industrial development. The industries have moved out of our municipality and we are working hard to build new industrial zones, respectively to create high paying jobs for the qualified young people who graduate from our universities," Mayor Kotsev said during the meeting. 

He added that the municipality needs the assistance of the State to improve the transport connectivity of Varna with the rest of the country. The Mayor noted that in recent years, Varna Port has ceded its leading position in the region to the ports of Burgas and Constanta. For their restoration, as well as for the completion of Hemus Motorway and the construction of the Black Sea Motorway, government support is needed. If these sites become a priority of the State, Varna will regain its position on the international map, Kotsev argued. He also explained the important role of Varna in accommodating the first Ukrainian refugees and providing good conditions for their life in the seaside city. 

Ambassador Copsey showed interest in the work of the Municipal Council and the budget procedure, the investments to be made in the educational infrastructure in the city, the salary levels achieved by the employees of Varna's public transport, and the salaries of doctors and nurses.