At the end of last week, Prof. D. Sc. Alexandre Kostov, Corresponding Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, was awarded the Badge of Honor of the Municipality of Montana. The highest award of the municipality will be presented to him on the city's feast - Holy Spirit, by virtue of the decision of the Municipal Council - Montana. Prof. Kostov's nomination received the unanimous support of all 33 councilors. This is eloquent proof that his contribution is highly appreciated by the local community.
With the honors of the Municipality of Montana, individuals and institutions with outstanding services to the city are recognized. In addition to the impressive academic achievements of Prof. Kostov, the reason for the award is also the cooperation initiated by him between the local government and cultural institutions with the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Tracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS), of which he was the director in the period 2010-2018. As a result of the partnership numerous events were held in Montana: conferences, seminars, lectures. A number of collections and scholarly publications have been published.
In 2018, on the proposition of Prof. D.Sc. Kostov, a branch of the IBSCT-BAS was established in Montana. This deepened the cooperation with the municipality, the Regional History Museum and the State Archives in Montana. Under his scientific guidance, 4 collections dedicated to the past and present of the Bulgarian northwest were published. Among them is the special edition dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the announcement of the city of Montana. The fifth edition of the series is in print. A scholarly conference under the leadership of Prof. D.Sc. Alexandre Kostov is included in the program for the city's feast.
The overall activity of Prof. D.Sc. Kostov, as head of the IBSCT-BAS branch, contributes to the establishment of Montana as the only center for research in the field of humanities and social sciences in Northwestern Bulgaria. This is an important touch in the positive public image of the city. The support of an renowned scholar of such rank contributed to the development of the city's cultural institutions. This fact was appreciated by all those who signed the proposal to award him the Montana Badge of Honor.
Prof. D.Sc. Alexandre Kostov, Corresponding Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, ranks among the honorary citizens of Montana, such as the writer Yordan Radichkov, the composer Diko Iliev, Academician Yachko Ivanov, the world record holder and Olympic vice-champion in the high jump Yordanka Blagoeva, the chairman of the 39th National Assembly Assoc. Prof. Borislav Velikov and the artist Prof. Galilei Simeonov.