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MUNICIPALITY VRATZA

Location
The Municipality is located in the northwestern Part of Bulgaria covering area of 679 km2. The municipality includes 22 places – 1 town and 21 villages. Vratsa is one of the most picturesque town in Bulgaria, only 110 km away from the capital Sofia, and 80 km from the ferryboat in Oriahovo and the river Harbour of Lom. The Vratsa is the administrative centre of the region.

International Roads
E 79 – Greece – Western Europe; Sofia – Vratsa – Vidin – Krayova
II – 15 Vratsa – ferry Oriahovo – Beket (Romania)

 
Dip. Engineer Voislav Bubev-Mayor
Climate
The climate is moderately continental. In the division of the country according the temperature conditions, the municipality falls into the temperately hot and warm zone, with a typical average temperature of the air in January 1,9 ° C, and average in July 22,2 ° C. The temperature conditions for the Municipality of Vratsa, as well as for the whole country are characterised with quick warm and increase of the temperatures in April. The highest are the temperatures in July and August. The duration of the period of sustainable preservation of the average durinal temperatures of the air above 5 °C lasts from 230 to 250 days, and above 10 °C – from 180 – 200 days.
Population
The Municipality is the biggest inhabited place in the district and it holds a share of 37 % from the total number of population – 212 656 (per 2004) people. Around 30 % from it live Vratsa. According the number of the population – 64 244 (per 2004), Vratsa is on the first place in the district and in the Northwestern-planning region, and on the 16th place in the country. The population of the municipality amounts to 1 % of the total population of the country, and of the Vratsa district – to 3%.
Municipal Administration
The government of the Municipality is performed by the Municipal Council and the Mayor. The Municipal Council, within its powers, governs the Policy for building and development of the Municipality, and controls the implementation of the Municipality Development Programme. They also solve problems of local importance, which are not within the exclusive competence of other bodies, defined by the law and with functions, set by the central state bodies. The Mayor is the Executive Power Body of the Municipality. On 02nd .11.2003 engineer Voislav Bubev was elected for Mayor of the Municipality of Vratsa.

The Municipal Council of Vratsa consists of 37 counsellors. Its Chairman is Slavei Grigorov. 13 committees have been established at the Municipal Council.

Municipal Services
The Municipal Center for Services and Information has been functioning since 2002. By means of this Center, the Municipality has implemented the “one-desk service” principle, thus facilitating the administrative service of the population and the business, and has created conditions for transparency in the work of the Municipal Administration. The Center occupies an area of 200 m2 on the first floor of the Building of the Municipality of Vratsa, and it is easily acessible by disabled people. The Municipality provides services for the spatial planning, the municipal property, the civic status and the economical policy.
1. Spatial ... Planning
This direction includes services related to: issuance of sketches, visas, detailed layouts; projects for investment initiative; construction and reconstruction of buildings permits; certificates for commissioning, illegal construction treatment; evaluation of estates, taxi transport; ecology.
2. Municipal Property
This direction includes services related to: registration of trading places; construction sites on municipal property land, renting of municipal sites; issuance of certificates on registration regimes; keeping record of the persons, needing a house;
3. Civil Status
This direction includes services related to: Issuance of records of birth, marriage, death, certificates for marriage, for kinship ties, certificates for the current address, and for the permanent address.
4. Economical Policy
This direction includes services related to: the field of economical development of the Municipality; work with the municipal societies; agricultural land, agricultural machinery, veterinary practice.

Education
The Municipality of Vratsa has a well developed network of educational institutions. Students can obtain primary, basic, secondary, and vocational education as well as to continue their study in the higher education institutions and colleges.

The professional educational institutions in Vratsa

High-school of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Professional high school of chemical technologies “Maria Qurie”
Professional high school of Mechanics and Electrical Engineering “Nikola Vapcarov”
Professional high school of Building and Architecture
Professional high school of Trade and Restauranting
Professional high school of mechanical engineering
Sport School “Sv. Kliment Ohridsky”.
Language High-school – English, French, Spanish, German

Public Health Services and Social Activities

The health protection of the population is provided by by means of 11 health institutions, 4 private medical centers and 6 private medical laboratories. There are 27 health institutions in the Municipality, their number for Vratsa is 19, comprising 60 % of the bed resource of the district.

The health institutions on the territory of the Municipality of Vratsa provide the population with health aid, and they are classified according the different criteria such as: qualified, specialized, narrowly specialized activities, related to emergency, urgent and regular medical aid, as medico-social domestic, policlinic, hospital, sanatorium, diagnostic, healing, prophylactic, rehabilitation, medical, dentistry, pharmaceutical, nursing, laboratory, dentist, etc.

The only specialized institutions for the Northwestern planning region, are located here, such as: 1) inter-regional dispensary for oncological diseases with a hospital; 2) Regional Dispensary for Pneumo-physiatric diseases; 3) Regional Dispensary for skin and venereal diseases with a hospital; 4) district dispensary for physical diseases.

Culture - The cultural calendar of Vratsa includes important international forums such as:

National review of the small theatre forms – organised by the Municipality of Vratsa, and the Theatre of Vratsa with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture.
?he International amateur theatricals festival “Vreme” (Time) - organised by the Home of Youth – Vratsa with the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The Youth Music Forum - annually organized by the Philharmonic orchestra - Vratsa.
Municipal Cultural Events: Botev’s Days in Vratsa, Oldtime City Song Fest “Mara Vrachanka”.

Cultural institutions

The cultural institutions in the Municipality of Vratsa are the State Philharmonic Orchestra, the Dramatic - Puppet Theatre, the Regional Historical Museum with Art Gallery, the “Hristo Botev” Library as well as seventeen Community Centres on the territory of the Municipality of Vratsa.
The associations functioning within the Municipality are the following: The Association of the Writers of Vratsa; The Association of the Craftsmen in National and Artistic Crafts – branch Vratsa, the representation of the “Union of the Bulgarian Artists”, and the Club of the Cultural Figures.

Sport
The Municipality of Vratsa has a well-developed sports base and professional sports clubs structure, as well as a Sports School (from grade VI to grade XII)
a stadium of 25 000 seats and 3 training grounds;
a tennis complex with 6 open courts a one covered tennis court with stands.
covered track-and-field ground
open swimming pools – Olympic size;
covered 25 m swimming pool and children swimming pool
two shooting ground – for small –calibre and air – guns;
two sports halls
skiing – three ski slopes in the area of Purshevitza.
   
Tourism

The geographic location, the richness of the flora and fauna as well as the unique karst relief and the convenient transport connections are prerequisites for sustainable development of the tourism in the Natural Park “Vrachasnki Balkn”. The tourism products are related to the alternative tourism – mountain, velo, ethnographic, sports, ornithological, ecological, and village tourism. The picturesque villages of Pavolche and Zgorigrad possess very well furnished village houses. Both Bulgarian and foreign guests are offered to meet the traditional Bulgarian hospitality, to admire the wonderful nature, to try delicious and ecologically clean products, and taste the local wines.

Natural sights and protected territories

There are plenty of natural sights that one can see in Vratsa and in the vicinity of Vratsa – the gorge “Vratzata” which gave the name of the town, the “Ledenika” cave, the “Okolchitza” site where the poet-revolutionist Christo Botev was killed, etc. In the town there are two medieval towers – “The Kurtpashova Tower” and “The Meshchii Tower”, dating back form the XVI Century.

“Vrachanski Karst” – it is a natural sight of international importance. It is among the richest in the country of caves, abysses and cave fauna, and most of the cave species are local endemites (they can be seen nowhere around the world) 20 of the plant species are included in the Red Book of Bulgaria.
“Ledenika” – The cave “Ledenika" is one of the most beautiful caves in Bulgaria – it is identified as Natural Sight and Tourist Site of international importance. It is situated 16 km to the west of Vratsa at 820 m above the sea level.
“Vola” /”Okolchitza”/ - it is a historical place of national importance.

Contacts to MUNICIPALITY OF VRATSA
Address: 3000, Vratsa, 6 "Stefanaki Savov" Str.
Phones: 092/ 62 45 81, 62 45 82 (central telephone exchange)
E-mail: obshtinavr@bsbg.net

Mayor’s Office
Tel.: + 359 92 66 31 17
Fax: + 359 92 62 70 85
E-mail: bubev@vratza.bg
Mayor - Dip. Engineer Voislav Bubev

Internet: www.vratza.bg