On May 18, 2012 in the town of Kardzhali, AIP held a training with journalists on how to use public registers and on public bodies obligations for active publication of information. Local media journalists from the towns of Kardzhali, Smolyan, and Haskovo took part. The training was the fourth out of 7 planned in the country. The first was held in in Kyustendil on March 16, 2012, the second - in Vratsa on March 30, and the third in Plovdiv - on April 20. The next will be held in the towns of Veliko Tarnovo (June 29), Sliven (July 13) and Shumen (July 20).



On April 20, 2012 in the town of Plovdiv, AIP held a training with journalists on how to use public registers and on public bodies obligations for active publication of information. Local media journalists from the towns of Stara Zagora and Pazardzhik also took part. The training was the third out of 7 planned in the country. The first was held in in Kyustendil on March 16, 2012, the second - in Vratsa on March 30. The next will be held in the towns of Kardzhali (May 18), Veliko Tarnovo (June 29), Sliven (July 13) and Shumen (July 20). 

On April 4, 2012, at a press conference at the Bulgarian News Agency, Access to Information Programme presented the 2012 Active Transparency Rating and the Public Registers Portal in Bulgaria.

The two surveys are made within the implementation of the project Civil Audit of Active Transparency of Government, supported by a grant from the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe.

On March 30, 2012 in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry - town of Vratsa, AIP held a training with journalists on how to use public registers and on public bodies obligations for active publication of information. Local media journalists from Vidin, Pleven, and Montana also took part. The training was the second out of 7 planned in the country. The first was held in in Kyustendil on March 16, 2012. The next will be held in the towns of Plovdiv (April 20), Kardzhali (May 18), Veliko Tarnovo (June 29), Sliven (July 13) and Shumen (July 20). The trainings are held within the framework of the project Civil Audit of Active Transparency of Government (CAATOG) supported by a grant from the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe.

On March 16, 2012 in Hotel Strimon Spa, the town of Kyustendil, AIP held a training with journalists on how to use public registers and on public bodies obligations for active publication. Local media journalists from Kyustendil, Pernik and Blagoevrgad took part. The training was the first out of 7 planned in the country - the next will be held in the towns of Vratsa (March 30), Plovdiv (April 20), Kardzhali (May 18), Veliko Tarnovo (June 29), Sliven (July 13) and Shumen (July 20).The trainings are held within the framework of the project Civil Audit of Active Transparency of Government (CAATOG) supported by a grant from the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe.

The 9^th Right to Know Day Awards Ceremony in Bulgaria was held on 28 September in the Bulgarian News Agency, Sofia. Access to Information Programme opened the event with the song “Breathe.” The event was broadcast live on Internet. More than hundred people attended the ceremony.  Pictures are available at AIP web site: http://www.aip-bg.org/about/gallery/108773/. The Right to Know Day Awards Committee selected the winners in the six categories out of 59 nominations received through the special web site www.RightToKnowDay.net.



The conference was organized and held by AIP in the frame of the project Pushing for Accountability of Government through ATI Legal Assistance and Litigation, financed by the Open Society Institute, Human Rights and Governance Grants Program, Budapest. Among the 100 participants were lawyers, judges from administrative courts, representatives of NGOs, media, activists, citizens who have submitted ATI requests and have appealed refusals in the court. Pictures from the conference can be viewed here.

Access to Information Programme (AIP) and Internet Society Bulgaria held the Big Brother Anti-awards ceremony in Bulgaria on February 16, 2011, 11.00, at the National Presscenter of the Bulgarian News Agency. The awards are given to government institutions, private companies, or individuals, who have done the most to invade personal privacy. Among the nominations were: the Parliamentary Standing Subcommittee for oversight and monitoring of application of special intelligence means,  the Minister of Internal Affairs, Alcatel-Lucent Company, Alpha Bank – Bulgaria,  a hospital in the town of Smolian, and even the Electronic Communications Act, effective as of May 10, 2010. 

The meeting was held on November 26, 2010 in Dessislava Hall in Grand Hotel Bulgaria, Sofia. The purpose of the meeting was to make a review of the results achieved within the three-years project Local Media and Freedom of Information in Bulgaria, financed through the MATRA program of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented by AIP in cooperation with the The Management & Media Academy/Free Voice. Remarks and conclusions were shared by the Dutch FOI expert Roger Vleugels who took part in the 26 training seminars held in the regional cities in the Country. Mr. Martijn Elgersma, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Sofia. 

In 4-6 October 2010, AIP held the last three training workshops with journalists from local media in the towns of Haskovo, Kardjali, and Smolyan. Kiril Terziiski, a lawyer at the AIP legal team presented cases of journalistic investigations completed with the help of the Access to Public Information Act and following litigation proceedings in cases of denials. Tactics for successful use of the law by journalists were also presented. The Dutch FOI expert, Mr. Roger Vleugels, presented tactics and cases of journalists from Holland. The movie Media and Access to Information - Five Investigative Reporter Stories was shown at all workshops.

The Eight Right to Know Day Awards Ceremony was held on 28 September in the Bulgarian News Agency, Sofia. Posters were disseminated in the countryside through AIP's coordinators network. Press releases were sent to national and regional media. The event was broadcast live on Internet. More than 60 media – national and local – covered the event. More than hundred people attended the ceremony.

Pictures are available at AIP facebook page. You can watch video clips (in Bulgarian) from the 2010 Right to Know Day Awards Ceremony held by Access to Information Programme.



To mark ten years of the adoption of the Bulgarian Access to Public Information Act (APIA), Access to Information Programme organized a conference on July 26, 2010. The conference was held under the auspices of the Chairperson of the Bulgarian National Assembly Ms. Tsetska Tsacheva. The purpose of the conference was to discuss possibilities of Bulgaria’s accession to the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents on the base of ten years experience of the Access to Public Information Act implementation. Bulgarian APIA is in act since July 7, 2000. 

In 12-14 April 2010, AIP held three more training workshops with journalists from local media in the towns of Pazardjik, Plovdiv and Stara Zagora. 

On March 16, 2010, at a press conference at the Bulgarian News Agency, AIP and Market LINKS presented the results from two surveys:

Assessment of the Internet sites of the institutions from the point of view of the Access to Public Information Act; and
Representative public opinion poll on public attitudes regarding the right of access to information.


In order to enhance the execution of the right of access to information in Bulgaria in line with 2008 amendments to the Access to Public Information Act and push for the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents, Access to Information Programme (AIP) initiated Public Awareness Campaign on New Standards in the Access to Information Area. The campaign is supported by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Financial Mechanism. 

The meeting with the journalists from the coordinators’ network was held on February 5, 2010. The meeting was organized within the project Local Media and Freedom of Information in Bulgaria, financed through the MATRA program of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ms. Gergana Jouleva, AIP executive director, made and overview of the key achievements of AIP during the past 2009. Results are presented in the annual report of the organization. The goals and tasks of the coordinators’ network for 2010 were outlined. AIP gave the Coordinator of the Year Award for a third successive year.