Innovation and digital transformation minister Ivan Vasilev opened the Black Sea Technology Forum in Varna, saying Bulgaria is setting up a new national model for passing on knowledge and technology. It will have a central coordinating centre and a network of offices in several cities. Varna should be among the first to get one, he said, because of its universities and industry.
The Transatlantic Index of Innovation Competitiveness ranks Varna second among Bulgaria's European regions for growth potential. The same index puts Bulgaria's labour productivity at roughly a tenth of the EU average.
The forum is held under the patronage of president Iliana Iotova, who greeted the participants. Guests included tourism minister Ilin Dimitrov and Varna regional governor Mario Smarkov. The three-day event is run by ICT Cluster – Varna together with Varna council, the Executive Agency for the Promotion of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, the Bulgarian AI factory Brain++ and the Applied Research and Communications Foundation.
Technology has no borders, Vasilev said. The real limits, he said, are how fast decisions get made, how ideas get funded and how quickly new ideas are put to use. Varna, he said, has engineering and software talent, universities, a large port, a working ICT cluster and a digital innovation hub.
The minister said a council on innovation and technological development has been set up. Working with business, it is to set out concrete steps and changes to the administration by 2030. The aim is to make Bulgaria the best place in Europe for high-value-added business.
The next job, Vasilev said, is digital transformation and the rollout of trustworthy artificial intelligence. His own pledge, he said, is to make dealings between the state, citizens and business easy, fast and convenient.
Brain++ is one of six new AI factories in the EU. The investment in it is 90m euros, including a new supercomputer. Vasilev said it gives the region computing power it has never had before.
For Europe to be strong and competitive in technology, Vasilev said, research, computing infrastructure, funding and industrial use need to be tied together more clearly. The Black Sea, he said, plays a strategic role in Bulgaria's and the EU's links: transport, energy and soon digital.
The government is working to establish Bulgaria as a digital hub on the East-West route, the minister said. The Trans-Caspian data corridor is already being built in Kazakhstan. It will speed up data exchange between East and West and, through Bulgaria, make the EU better connected. Vasilev said there is a chance the corridor will cross the Black Sea to reach Sofia in 2027.
The minister noted that Bulgaria is part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's programme for developing regional innovation ecosystems. At the end of January 2027, Bulgaria will host the programme's global cohort and a national forum, where the annual "Innovation BG" report will be presented.