The 21st informatics Olympiad will be held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Bulgarian students have taken part in all of the 20 international informatics Olympiads held so far where they have won 67 medals (14 gold, 28 silver and 25 bronze medals). This ranks Bulgaria on the fifth place in the world in the total medal count, Krassimir Manev, member of the International Committee of the International Informatics Olympiad and a professor in the Sofia University, told a news conference on Monday, August 25.

Manev said sponsors are being sought for the organization of the 21st International Informatics Olympiad in August 2009 in Plovdiv, Southern Bulgaria. The competition will be held in the Plovdiv fairgrounds. The event is organized by the Science and Education Ministry, the Union of Mathematicians in Bulgaria, the Institute of Mathematics and Informatics with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Sofia University. Emil Kelevedjiev, deputy head of the Bulgarian team said that Bulgaria won to host the 21st informatics Olympiad in a difficult battle against Canada.

Manev said that statistically, students from Slavic nations and from China are the best performing competitors at international informatics Olympiads. He said that most of the Bulgarian students winners of medals at such events continue their studies in the United States and are then offered jobs in American or European software giants.

Manev said that, regretfully, Bulgarian software companies fail to win big procurement contracts and are not in the best financial position.