Bulgarian Telegraphic Agency Expands Global Reach, Digitizes Historic Archives

Jerusalem, 9 July, 2026 (TPS-IL) -- Sofia (BTA) – Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev presented the Agency’s report for 2025 to MPs in Parliament on Thursday. The National Assembly then adopted the report unanimously, with 153 votes in favour.

Presenting the report, Valchev expressed hope that the 2026 state budget will increase funding for BTA, Bulgarian National Radio and Bulgarian National Television in order to guarantee higher salaries for journalists, who today play the role of teachers but are paid by 25% less.

“While schools teach how to apply the experience of yesterday, the media teach us about today,” Valchev said, calling for the remuneration policy for the media to be reconsidered when the 2026 budget is discussed.

The report provides an overview of the Agency’s progress toward achieving its strategic goals, which are organized around five core concepts: freedom, truth, knowledge, community, and memory. The document highlights the growth in BTA’s multimedia content in recent years, with a particularly significant increase in photos, video materials, and infographics.

Last year, BTA began producing podcasts for the first time. The Agency hosted 1,254 news conferences and events, the report notes.

The year 2025 marked the first full year of operation for BTA’s expanded network of correspondents in Bulgaria. As of the end of last year, BTA had 70 full-time correspondents, including 61 in Bulgaria and 6 abroad. As of December 31, 2025, BTA’s employees numbered 388, of whom 352 were on permanent employment contracts and 36 on temporary contracts.

Among the highlights of BTA’s 2025 budget, Valchev listed ensuring free access to news, building a correspondent network that now includes 46 press clubs and partnerships with more than 50 news agencies, and the full digitization of the Agency’s archives.

He also noted that more than five million pages from the period between BTA’s establishment in 1898 and 2000 have been digitized, as well as nearly 1.8 million photographs. A special BTA typeface, LIK, developed by the National Academy of Art, has been introduced and is made available by BTA to all public institutions.

Valchev also noted that the tradition of organizing the World Meeting of Bulgarian Media has continued. He said that the 20th meeting, held in Sofia in 2025, was attended by Bulgarian media from 25 countries. Valchev added that this year the meeting is planned to take place in Hungary to mark 1,080 years since the Dormition of St John of Rila, whose relics were kept for some time in Esztergom, Hungary. Representatives of nearly 30 Bulgarian media outlets are expected to attend.

During the debate on the report, GERB-UDF MP Toma Bikov said that BTA has developed in a way that should serve as an example for other public media. He praised BTA’s development and said Parliament had established a tradition of supporting the Agency’s annual reports. According to Bikov, BTA began to develop successfully after Parliament required the Agency to provide its news free of charge while compensating it through the state budget. He said similar reforms should be considered for the country’s other public media.

Democratic Bulgaria MP Aleksandra Sterkova congratulated the BTA’s Director General and entire time on not merely fulfilling their legal obligations, but on their comprehensive vision for the Agency’s development, on expanding its presence, and on establishing its role as a reliable source of information. Sterkova specifically highlighted the efforts to digitize BTA’s archival collection, noting that these represent exceptional efforts to preserve BTA’s legacy, which is a unique source of history.

Continue the Change MP Velislav Velichkov said that the digitization of the BTA’s archive and historical documents helps preserve Bulgaria’s true history and is worthy of admiration. He praised BTA’s coverage of current events, describing it as objective, impartial and highly professional.

On June 25, the BTA Director General presented the Agency’s annual activity report for 2025 to the parliamentary Committee on Culture and Media, which also adopted it unanimously.