Bulgaria’s Culture Minister: Some Plovdiv European Capital of Culture projects will not happen
Some of the projects that are part of Plovdiv – European Capital of Culture 2019 obviously will not be implemented, Bulgaria’s Culture Minister Boil Banov said in a television interview on January 3.
He cited the example of the Kino Kosmos project, involving the cinema building that dates back to the decades of Bulgaria’s communist era. Plovdiv mayor Ivan Totev has justified the delay in the project with legal obstacles.
The renovation of Plovdiv’s Tsentralen Square began only in August and will continue in 2019.
“The most important thing is that, as the (renovation of) the square has started, it will happen. It would have been better to be ready for the year of the Capital of Culture, but the most important thing is for it to happen,” Banov said in the interview with bTV.
He said that the 20 million leva (about 10 million euro) that the Bulgarian state granted for the city holding the European Capital of Culture title had gone to infrastructure projects.
“Plovdiv has a natural charm and I hope that the cultural programme is rich too,” Banov said.
There would be many events, which would resonate seriously in Bulgaria and around the world, he said.
On January 2, Plovdiv news website podtepeto.com reported that the 30-metre tower that will will be the centrepiece of the January 12 opening ceremony of Plovdiv – European Capital of Culture 2019 was continuing to rise.
With less than two weeks to the opening event, three of the floors of the tower and the 360-degree stages around it are in place. The tower would be ready in time for the opening, the report said.
