This is the result of a national survey, which is carried out for the third year in a row by “Darik radio BG”, the Bulgarian daily “24 Chasa” and the information site dariknews.bg. The previous two years Varna was awarded the title. This year Varna is second, followed by the other big Black Sea coast city of Bourgas.

All in all the capital came first with 234 points, Varna came in a close second with 233 points and Burgas was third with 219 points. In the ranking of 44 cities and towns in Bulgaria, each one was evaluated using 32 criteria.

Sofia received the maximum number of points in the areas of investment in infrastructure projects, shop hours, number of restaurants with varying cuisine, nice places to drink coffee in the center, the number of non-stop pharmacies, the availability of equipment for the treatment of heart attacks, airports, number of universities and high schools.

The problems of the capital however remain the ecological state of the city, the kindergartens, the lack of a nice central promenade, lack of sufficient parking spaces, the terrible traffic jams and the high crime level.
Acting mayor of Sofia Minko Gerdzhikov received the award “Bulgaria’s best city to live in” from Regional Development Minister Rosen Plevneliev.

“I would like to share my great happiness that in a fair and noble competition Sofia was pointed out as the preferred city to live in, said Minko Gerdhikov during the official ceremony. This is a high estimate of the labour of many people. It may also be due to the fact that Sofia has the lowest unemployment rate among the European cities with a population of over one and a half million. We have the great desire to repeat this success.”

Besides the jury the people also had the word. Over 18000 people voted in the Internet to state which city they prefer to live in. This year special awards were also given. Gabrovo, in Central Bulgaria, was declared “The greenest city”, Russe, on the Danube, was qualified as “the most beautiful city”, while Kavarna on the Black Sea Coast, which in recent years won popularity as the host of grandiose rock concerts, was named “the party city”. Another city on the Black Sea Coast – Bourgas – took the “Business city” title. Its mayor Dimitar Nikolov considers this a very topical award, because in a situation of a global crisis the opportunity to do business is very important. Here is more from Dimitar Nikolov:

“Maybe the explanation is quite simple. We pay attention to each and every investor. We do our best to create as many opportunities as possible despite the crisis and thus guarantee that the investor will have the ability to realize his project as quickly as possible. This requires a lot of labour, especially on behalf of the administration, and needs the support of the people because they are the ones that suffer most in the conditions of a global crisis. At present we are organizing a new business zone in Bourgas where at least 20 companies will work. We are also launching projects for the modernization of the public transport in the city”, says Dimitar Nikolov, mayor of Bourgas.

In the ranking “Bulgaria’s best city to live in” the towns at the bottom of the list were Yambol and Dupnitsa – 140, Gotse Delchev – 133 and finally Gorna Oryahovitsa with 130 points. The Karlovo mayor refused to take part so Karlovo received 0 points.

English version: Ivaila Bozhanova