Municipalities today

Today, Mayor Stefan Radev met with part of the Sliven group that took part in an expedition to the highest peak in Europe – Mount Elbrus. The mountain is located in the Western Caucasus, on the border between Russia and Georgia.

Personal congratulations and admiration from the mayor were extended to Boriana Indzhova, senior nurse at the “Dr. Ivan Seliminski” Multiprofile Hospital for Active Treatment in Sliven, and to Milen Anastasov, mountain rescuer and guide. Anastasov, also a paramedic, is part of the Mountain Rescue Service team in Sliven. Before Mayor Radev, the guests shared their preparation process for the expedition, the heavy strain of the climb, and the harsh weather conditions they faced. The group successfully reached the summit of Elbrus on August 6 and is already considering new challenges.

“We love the adrenaline. This way I rediscover myself. A person doesn’t know what they are capable of until they find themselves in such a situation—how their psyche will react, whether they will remain composed, whether they can mobilize,” shared senior nurse Indzhova.

From the perspective of his long practice and climbing experience, Milen Anastasov noted that women, who undertook “the path to the peak,” acclimatize more quickly and generally have a higher threshold of pain and endurance compared to men.

A total of eight people—three women and five men—took part in the Elbrus challenge. Among them were three mountain guides from the Discovery Team, who organized the climb: Zhelyo Parushev, Irena Mircheva, and Branimir Zhelyazkov. The other participants were three rescuers from the Mountain Rescue Service in Sliven—Dr. Evgeni Tenchev, Milen Anastasov, and Todor Nikov, along with Boriana Indzhova and Svetla Veselinova, a teacher from the “New Horizons” Tourist Society in Varna, guided by Vika Klimenko. People from different professions, united by their love for the mountains and the thrill of high adrenaline.

During the meeting, Stefan Radev shared a long-term idea that the Municipality is considering: that the city beneath the Blue Rocks continue to provide support and conditions for holding the annual scout camps in Bulgaria—becoming their center. In this way, young people will learn basic survival skills, adaptability, responsibility, and community values.

At the beginning of August this year, Sliven hosted the National Scout Summer Camp, which included around 150 children. The mayor recalled that the Municipality had built a modern climbing wall in the “Asenovets” sports hall, where about 50 children currently train. The wall helps in the training and preparation of future alpinists and climbers.

The guests received gifts from Mayor Radev, including the flag of the Municipality of Sliven, with the wish that they wave it atop many more continental mountain summits.

In turn, Indzhova and Anastasov thanked the Municipality of Sliven for the invitation and support. They presented Radev with a magnetic souvenir from the village where their ascent began and a stone taken from an altitude of 4,700 meters.