Optimism for Bulgaria

A schoolteacher sets out for Vienna and runs out of money in Belgrade. A century and a half later, the people around Pavlikeni are still good at making something memorable out of what they have.

At 22, graduating into one of Bulgaria’s hardest economic crises, Lidl Bulgaria CEO Milena Dragijska was not sure success and a clear conscience could coexist. Today, she speaks about the people who helped prove they could and why she believes business should help others move forward, too.

On their first date, David asked a family friend to give Bella away at their wedding. Years later, he folded her late father’s music into a concerto he wrote for her. Now their story leads back to Bulgaria.

His first game earned $37. Then Vasil persuaded a school to buy VR headsets and built a place where students could keep going after class. Meet the 23-year-old who treats failure as one more level.

Tsvetomir Stefanov was only 17 when he decided his homebrewing experiments could become more than a hobby. Today, Chiprovsko Pivo is a family business with a guesthouse, brewery tours, and a clear purpose: to create a livelihood in a place many young people leave behind. It is a story about entrepreneurship, but also about love for one’s hometown—the kind that does not remain a feeling, but becomes action.

For the Tchushkarev family, carpet weaving is not past tense. It is long hours at the loom, a conversation between generations, and patience made visible in every thread.

Every spring, people from the world over travel to Chiprovtsi for its carpets. Many return for what lies behind them: the labor, memory, and human ties woven into the craft.

The Northwest Bike Tour shows Chiprovtsi and the region at just the right pace—slowly enough to take it in, fast enough to make you feel gloriously free.

The museum on the hill tells why Chiprovtsi was once called “the Flower of Bulgaria” and why this small town has played such an important role in Bulgarian history.