The training camp of Bulgarian polar scientists closed today, as the first group of them prepares to leave to Livingston Island in Antarctica a week from now, the head of the expedition Prof. Hristo Pimpirev said.

The training was held at Sofia University research & training base in Mount Rila, Southern Bulgaria, and ended with climbing Gyuletchitsa Peak there, the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute reported.

The program of this year’s expedition was presented at the training. It includes logistics of supplies for the base, repair works, construction of a garage for the Manitou ATV there, as well as the installation of solar panels on the roofs of all houses aimed to cut considerably the use of diesel for the functioning of the Bulgarian village in the Antarctic.

Special attention was given to the research program, which will be the most important part of the forthcoming expedition. The implementation of the five-year National Polar Research Program, adopted with a Council of Ministers Decree, will be launched.
The scientific projects this year will include geological, biological, seismological and geophysical research as well as sea level measurements in the Bulgarian Gulf related to climate change and the fast melting of glaciers in the West Antarctic region. Bulgarian researchers on the Bulgarian polar base will be joined by some of their foreign colleagues – six from Portugal, two from Turkey and one from Mongolia.

On November 8, President Rumen Radev will hand over the national tricolor to the members of the 26^th Bulgarian expedition at an official ceremony in the Presidency in Sofia.