South Africa hands credentials to honorary consul in Varna
South African ambassador to Bulgaria Sheila Camerer handed credentials to the country’s new honorary consul in the Black Sea city of Varna, Rumen Ganchev, at a ceremony on February 18 2013.
Camerer said that she had become keenly aware of the need for an honorary consul in the city after she became South African ambassador in Sofia in 2009, because of the distance of Varna from the embassy in the capital city and because Varna is Bulgaria’s third-largest city and an important port on the Black Sea.
Varna also has entered into a “twinning” agreement with Cape Town, parliamentary capital city of South Africa.
Camerer said that she was very glad that the process of appointing an honorary consul had been completed before the end of her term as ambassador in April 2013.
“Mr Ganchev has already visited my home town, Cape Town as part of a business delegation from Varna in 2010 and I trust this will not be the last time he will visit South Africa. The South African embassy looks forward to a long and fruitful relationship with South Africa’s honorary consul in Varna,” Camerer said.
Ganchev (67) began his career in the tourism industry and was first secretary at the Bulgarian embassy in The Hague from 1986 to 1990. He is a member of the Varna Chamber of Commerce and Industry and of the Varna Chamber of Tourism.
(Main photo, of Varna: Harrieta171)
