Today, Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Svetlan Stoev was a guest to the Bulgarian community in the city of Bolhrad (Bolgrad), Odessa region, where celebrations on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the city were officially opened.

In his address Minister Stoev highlighted the special role played by Bolhrad in Bulgarian history and praised the spirit of the ethnic Bulgarians who have learnt to appreciate unity and the friendship with the other ethnic groups in Ukraine. Bulgaria's Foreign Minister was welcomed, by an old Bulgarian tradition, with bread and salt at the historical G. S. Rakovski secondary school in Bolhrad, where he met with mayor Sergey Dimitriev and representatuves of the Bulgarian associations in Ukraine. The meeting was also attended by the governor of Odessa region Sergey Grynevetsky.

Ukraine is home to the largest Bulgarian historical community abroad. About 200,000 Bulgarians live in Ukraine, according to the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A Bulgarian Culture Center, which has been working for two decades, exists in Bolgrad. The center also has a Bulgarian library in it and prepares candidate students for Bulgarian universities.