The sports and business communities came together on June 9 at a roundtable discussion on the Sofia 2014 Bid for the Olympic Winter Games. 

The roundtable, held at the Sofia Sports Expo 2006, included more than 20 participants from all areas of society such as sport, including the Bulgarian Olympic Committee and national sports federations such as ice hockey and curling; business investors; the Sofia Municipality; government agencies; and community leaders. They discussed opportunities for business investment in the bid and in the Olympic Games.

A presentation by Sofia 2014 preceded the discussion.

There was a strong consensus that Sofia would be an excellent host of the Olympic Games and that the bid and hosting of the Games would have tremendous short and long term benefits for both Bulgarian society and the country’s economy.

Sofia 2014 was one of the major exhibitors at the Sofia Sports Expo, which opened on June 8 at the National Palace of Culture, a proposed venue for Sofia’s bid for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. The Sofia Sport Expo was a co-operative effort of the Bulgarian Economic Forum and the National Palace of Culture. The expo drew more than 100 exhibitors from all areas of the sport and sport tourism industries.

The Sofia 2014 exhibition opening was attended by leading officials of all agencies working in cooperation with the Sofia 2014 Bid Committee including Vesela Letcheva, President of the State Agency for Youth and Sports, Mario al-Djebouri, head of the State Agency for Tourism, Stefka Kostadinova, President of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee and Svetla Ozetova, Vice President of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee and the Sofia 2014 Bid Committee. Olympic bid ambassadors, skiing legend Peter Popangelov and European biathlon champion Pavlina Filipova, as well as the Nagano 1998 Olympic biathlon gold medalist Ekaterina Dafovska and members of the Bulgarian Biathlon team were also on hand to lend their support.

“Sport and leisure is a growth industry in Bulgaria,” said Letcheva. “This expo demonstrates the increasing importance of sport in Bulgarian society. We were pleased to present in partnership the Sofia 2014 stand, and we appreciate the great support for our bid. We will take every opportunity to include the Bulgarian public in the development of our bid.”

“This is another example of the great partnership of all the agencies involved in the bid,” said Kostadinova. “We are grateful for the government’s commitment to the Olympic movement in Bulgaria. The continued growth in sport and leisure activities lends further support to our work to host the 2014 Olympic Games in Bulgaria.”

“There is such an incredible range of sport and leisure activities on display here at the Expo,” said Dafofska.  “It is wonderful to see such a high level of interest in sport and leisure and in our bid for 2014.  For biathlon an Olympic Games in Bulgaria would be a tremendous advantage, and I will be doing all I can to support Sofia 2014 through the bid process.”