EKIP– Expert Club for Economics and Politics A Different Opinion
On October 2, 1921, the first academic year was opened at the Higher School of Commerce in Varna . Later renamed the "University of Economics - Varna", this was the first higher school of economics in Bulgaria, marking the beginning of specialized higher business education in the country.
The initiative for its creation was taken by the Varna Chamber of Commerce and Industry back in 1911 in response to the strong demand for specialists during the cultural and economic boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, the tragedy of the First World War confused the plans of the Varna entrepreneurs and delayed the project. The school was eventually opened in 1920 with the support of many enterprising Bulgarians, including the banker Atanas Burov.
The first rector was appointed the experienced Bulgarian chemist Tsani Kalyanjiev, who graduated in Moscow and Zurich and worked in the chemical industry in the USA. Bulgarians who completed their business education in Europe were attracted as lecturers, as well as several foreign specialists such as the Russian professor of accounting Fyodor Bellmer and the German professor of statistics, economic geography and finance Oskar Anderson.
The university's program was modeled after the Berlin School of Business, with the duration of the course being two years. The tuition fee was 750 leva per semester. Students were also required to pay a 200 leva deposit for "property protection", and absence from lectures for unwarranted reasons was punishable by a fine of 10 leva.
" Imbued with high civic consciousness, the people of Varna have always been in the forefront of our public life. And today they come to fill a void and satisfy a ripe need for our national economy. Once again, the Bulgarian comes to manifest his enterprising spirit and his insatiable thirst for enlightenment, improvement and progress."
- From the speech of Tsar Boris III at the opening of the Higher School of Commerce.
