Ruse Municipality continues the initiative "Cultural Check" for the students of grade 12 of all municipal and state schools in Ruse. From October 4, all high school graduates will be able to attend a concert or performance of their choice at one of the three Ruse state cultural institutes: the State Opera, ''Sava Ognyanov'' Drama Theatre and the Puppet Theatre. The cultural check will not be valid only for premiere and guest performances.

A total of 1,252 seniors in the 2023/2024 school year will receive a cultural check and will be able to use it through Dec. 30 of this year.

The aim of the initiative, which is being held for the second time, is to introduce young people to musical and theatrical works from Bulgarian and world classics. At the same time, Ruse Municipality supports and promotes the activities of the three Ruse cultural institutes among Ruse municipal and state school students.

The funds for the initiative "Cultural Cheque" worth BGN 10 000 were voted at a session of the Municipal Council - Ruse on the proposal of municipal councilors Kosyo Stanev and Nora Stoyanova. The idea is to make this a tradition and continue it in the coming years, as is the practice in other European countries.

Today, a press conference was held in the Municipality of Giurgiu in connection with the road race "Running of the Free Spirit Ruse - Giurgiu". The event will start at 11 a. m. this Saturday /30 September/ in front of the Courthouse in Ruse and will include 330 participants from 10 countries who will have to run a 15-kilometer route. The race is organized by Ruse Municipality, Danube Athletics Club, Giurgiu Sports Club and Giurgiu Municipality.

"Running of the Free Spirit Ruse - Giurgiu" is not just a sports competition with several hundred people, but an event that unites two friendly cities. This is a wonderful occasion for people from other countries to get acquainted with the history, beauty and opportunities of our Danube region", said Deputy Mayor Zlatomira Stefanova.

The press conference was also attended by the chairman of Athletics sports club "Dunav" Evgeni Ignatov, world champion and honorary citizen of Ruse Anelia Nuneva, who is also part of the initiative committee of the race, representatives of SC "Giurgiu" and the deputy mayor of Giurgiu Municipality Marian Damyan. He shared with the audience that the competition is one of the best examples of the friendship of the two communities separated by the Friendship Bridge. Marijan Damian also called on all Ruse and Giurgiu residents of  to join the event.

Participants in the only cross-border road race in Eastern Europe will pass through  'Aleksandrovska'' str., "Dorostol" str., Blvd. "Tutrakan". They will cross the Danube Bridge, finishing in the square in front of the Municipality of Giurgiu. The mostly flat route passes through the main sights of the two Danube cities.

This Saturday, September 30 at 10 am on the playground between blocks 76, 77 and 78 in the "Zdravets" neighborhood will gather those willing to participate in the first action of "Together in Zdravets - Neighborhood Celebration". There, at the assembly point, will be counted the enthusiasts who are ready to give up their free time on their day off to do something good and useful for the neighborhood where they live.

The organizers of the action from the municipal foundation "Ruse - city of free spirit" provide paint, sacks and gloves and appeal if there are people who want to take care of the place in front of their block in the neighborhood to write to them in time at rusefreespiritcity@gmail. com so that they can support them.

The aim of the "Neighbourhood Festival - Together in Zdravets" is for people to come together and take care of the spaces in their neighbourhood, and then all have fun together. Next Saturday, October 7, the second action will take place and on October 14 will be the culmination of the initiative. Then the neighbors will have a well-deserved fun with an interesting and full of emotions and prizes program.

The event is organized by Ruse - City of Free Spirit Foundation with the financial support of Orgachim Ltd, Holeman Bulgaria Ltd. and Tiva Plus Ltd. Mayor's Commissioner Dimitar Yordanov helps with logistics in the neighbourhood.

Come on, Twilight, let's work TOGETHER, and then we'll celebrate TOGETHER again!

13-year-old Nikolay Sabev from boxing club "Ruse" won a silver medal at the European Boxing Championships for students up to 13-14 years of age in Maribor, Slovenia. On this occasion he was honored by Mayor Pencho Milkov.

"You are a unique combination of a good athlete and someone who, despite your age, exudes calm and purpose. Your energy is great and I know you will be an example for many people," the mayor said.

Along with his success in sports, Nikolay is a graduate of the ''Elias Canetti'' School, where he also achieved excellent results.

The young athlete won a silver medal in the 52 kg category. He fought for the prestigious award against 18 other competitors in the same category, on the way to success in direct fights defeated boxers from Slovakia, Estonia and Hungary, and in his last match, in a very controversial and attractive fight, lost to the representative of Azerbaijan Shahin Aslanov.

Thanks to the excellent performance of Nikolay Sabev and his teammates, Bulgaria took fifth place in terms of medals won at the European School Boxing Championship. The native talents, led by the Olympic champions Petar Lesov and Stoika Krasteva, won 6 medals - five bronze and one silver.

Ivan Belchev emphasized that the word "pollution" should not be used since there is no evidence of such



Representatives of the municipal and regional administrations, MPs from Ruse and experts from the Regional Inspectorate of Environmental Protection and the Regional Health Inspectorate united on the issues of air cleanliness. The meeting, initiated by the mayor Pencho Milkov, was attended by the deputies Zlatan Zlatanov and Ivan Belchev, the regional governor Danail Kovachev, the director of the Regional Inspectorate for Environmental Protection Tsonka Hristova, experts from the environmental and health inspectorates in Ruse.
Currently, the municipal station, equipped and certified for the analysis of organic compounds, does not report exceedances, but with the change of air currents in September, residents of Ruse often find unpleasant odors. That is why Mayor Pencho Milkov once again urged the current deputies to bring the initiated changes in the legislation to completion.

"The fact that the bill to amend the Clean Air Act has been tabled means that even more urgency must be applied on your part to get it on the agenda of the National Assembly," the mayor addressed the MPs. He added that he had repeatedly described the necessary steps for changes in official letters and talks with the previous ministers and prime ministers. It is necessary to shorten the periods of air measurements and average the values over several minutes, not an hour as before, in order to capture the volleys. Standards should also be provided for compounds, for which there are currently none, and experience should be drawn from European countries and texts introduced against unpleasant odours.

Among the sponsors of the project in December 2022 was the representative of the ruling majority of the  Democratic Bulgaria Ivan Belchev. The mayor raised the issue of the mobile station of the Executive Environmental Agency, which every year comes and makes measurements within 14 days in Ruse, but in 2023, despite the applications of the Municipality, did not include the city in its schedule.
Experts from the Regional Inspectorate for Environmental Protection confirmed that the main problem in identifying the exact source of the odours was the short duration of the releases and their rapid dispersion by air currents in the city. In the last two weeks, the Regional Inspectorate of Environmental Protection has carried out dozens of night patrols in the Eastern Industrial Zone, as the signals are mainly from the "Zdravets" and "Vazrazhdane" districts. Checks begin at 8:30 p. m. and continue past midnight. There has also been a case in the last week where smells lead to smouldering landfill in the ''Puhlevo Dere'' area.

Eng. Tsonka Hristova pointed out that laboratories exist in the Netherlands and Italy to test the saturation of unpleasant odours. The analysis of one sample currently costs 28 thousand leva however, it does not show the content of substances in the air and what their impact on human health is.
"According to European legislation, there are currently no harmful emissions from existing industries because they are obliged to dispose of all substances in their installations. Our organics station data shows no exceedances. This means that there is no pollution, but the unpleasant aroma is a fact," the mayor said. He insisted on continuing the joint inspections of the complex permits with representatives of the Regional Inspectorate for Environmental Protection and the Regional Ministry, as only construction experts can establish whether the filters, ventilation system and other requirements set in the permits are maintained and working in a plant.

Taking into account the sensitive topic for the people of Ruse, as well as the existing investment proposal for the construction of an incinerator for incineration of hospital waste in Giurgiu, the attendees united around the idea of the Environment Committee in the National Assembly to hold an off-site meeting in Ruse, for which Ivan Belchev MP committed to assist. He emphasized that the word "pollution" should not be used since there is no evidence of such.