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Opening Ceremony: Spas Panchev, President pf the Union of Bulgarian Philatelists; the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Mihail Mikov presenting the award of this institution to the FEPA President josé Ramón Moreno; Pedro Vaz Pereira, President of the Portuguese Federation of Philately and FEPA Honorary President, receving the same award from Mr. Mihail Mikov.

The compilation of the Media, done by Mr. Christo Nikoltchev and kindly sent to us, covers the information in the media during the period from the 14^th to the 27^th of October 2014. This is the most reflected philatelic event in the country since the European philatelic exhibition “Bulgaria 2009”.

We are very happy to congratulate the Union of Bulgarian Philatelists for this success, and particularly to the President Mr. Spas Panchev, Secretary Mr. Christo Nikoltchev and International Relations Mr. Boncho Bonev.

The Opening Ceremony was held on the 24^th of October in presence of the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Mihail Mikov, amongst other authorities.

Left, the Portuguese Delegation with the Ambassador of Portugal in Bulgaria, Mr. Luis Ferraz. Right, Jurors and Commissioners dinner.

The Jury President, Mr. Ivan Kostov offered his outstanding knowledge and experience with kind explanations to all interested philatelists who attended the event.

Palmares: Left, the General Manager of Bulgarian Post, Mr. StanislavDotchev, handed out the Grand Prix to Mr. Pedro Vaz Pereira. Middle, FEPA President José Ramón Moreno presented the FEPA Honorary plate to Mr. Spas Panchev for his extraordinary contribution to the development of the European Philately. Right, Typical Bulgarian dancing.

Jury Report:

The international jury of the international philatelic exhibition “Bulgaria – Portugal”, held in Plovdiv between October 24 to 26, 2014 is pleased to present their report:

International Jury praised the organization of the exhibition and the observance of the rules of FEPA for such events. Excellent conditions for presenting the exhibits created an opportunity for the jury to do its job well and on time.

We thank the organizers – the Union of Bulgarian Philatelists and the International Plovdiv Fair as well as the co-organizers of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, “Bulgarian Posts” EAD and Plovdiv Municipality.

The jury thanks to the Philatelic Federation of Portugal for its active participation in the preparation of the exhibition, which contributed to the exchange of experience and raising the level of the joint project.

The international jury:  Ivan Kostov – Bulgaria – Chairman,  Joao Soeiro – Portugal, Julio Maia – Portugal,  Lazar Lazarov – Bulgaria, Boncho Bonev – Bulgaria – Secretary

Carefully reviewed and evaluated the total exhibits of the seven classes as follows: Class Traditional Philately, Class Postal History, Class Thematics, Youth Class, Class Aerophilately, Class Postal Stationery, Class Literature.

The international jury of the bilateral international philatelic exhibition “Bulgaria – Portugal” unanimously determined the GRAND PRIX to the exhibit of Mr. Pedro Vaz Pereira ” Nominatives Marks not Dated used in the Adhesive Period 1853-1900 ” – 92 points under the rules of F.I.P. and special prize of the Bulgarian Post.

The international jury unanimously determined the winners of two large equivalent honorary prizes for outstanding philatelic achievements as follows:

1. Mr. Eduardo Sousa for his exhibit “L’AUTOMOBILE” – 96 points under the rules of F.I.P. and the Special Prize of the International Fair Plovdiv

2.  Mr. Spas Panchev for his exhibit “Pre-Liberation Post Office in Bulgaria  (1840-1879)” – 96 points under the rules of F.I.P. and the Special Prize of the Portuguese Philatelic Federation.

The international jury determined the winners of the two prizes for the best exhibits from each of the participating countries as follows:

1. From Portugal – Joao Violante for his exhibit  „D.LUÍS I – Issues Printing and “Provisório” – 91 points under the rules of  F.I.P.  and the Special Prize of the International Fair Plovdiv

2. From Bulgaria – Dejan Nikolovski – for his “Bulgaria – postal history (1879-1899)”- 91 points under the rules of F.I.P. and the Special Prize of His Excellency the Ambassador of the Portuguese Republic.

Signed:  Ivan Kostov, Chairman, Joao Soeiro, Julio Maia, Lazar Lazarov, Boncho Bonev                                                                     _____________________________________________________________________

Other aspects of Bulcollecto will be posted in separate news and in “FEPA News” magazine.

This is the second International Exhibition during this year 2014 in Bulgaria after the successful FEPA Recognized Exhibition BALKANFILA 2014 in Sofia last April.