The present Culture Heritage Act (2009), which replaced the former Cultural Monuments and Museums Act (1969), introduced a new integrative concept for cultural heritage and sets up a new national system for protection, management and sustainable use. The law was adopted after years of debate and its main achievement is to recognise the responsibility of the state and society to protect and preserve the cultural heritage of Bulgaria for the benefit of its citizens and for international visitors. The law states two main groups of monuments that are described as movable and immovable. This regulatory differentiation is due to the different modes, procedures and proponents of movable and immovable monuments of cultural protection.
The movable monuments with the greatest scientific and cultural value are included in a National Museum Stock. The stock register is kept at the Museums, Galleries and Fine Arts Directorate of the Ministry of Culture.
The Republican budget, endorsed each year by the Parliament, provides funding in the field of immovable cultural heritage preservation, allocated in line with the following scheme:
Through the budget of the Ministry of Culture
For each financial year, the Ministry of Culture devises a proposal for the benchmarking of the state subsidy funding for specific monuments and specific types of work that the Minister of Culture approves. The following criteria for the selection of monuments to be included in the State Assignment have priority in the proposal preparation:
- Cultural heritage properties with national or international significance;
- Monuments at an advanced stage of the conservation and restoration works, which can possible be concluded during the year of the funding;
- Monuments in the process of conservation and restoration works, for which interrupting the technological cycle is unacceptable;
- Monuments in decayed physical state, whose integrity is endangered; and
- If the owners of monuments are committed to secure additional funding for different activities during the financial year, together with the municipality where the monuments are located.
Through the budget of the Ministry of Finance
The Ministry of Finance secures credits for investigation and protection of monuments of culture that are covered by the allotted funding for the site.
Through the budget of the municipalities
Municipalities have a subsidy for specialised activities for monuments of culture with local importance.
Through the Religious Denominations Directorate with the Council of Ministers
Regional and local government funding sources. The financing of the local level activities for preservation of architectural and archaeological heritage comes from the following sources:
- Annual Target Subsidy from the Ministry of Culture. The Minister of Culture has contracts with municipalities for the carrying out of clearly specified activities on certain sites included in the programme prepared in advance. The budget subsidy covers part of the expenditures under that programme (generally between 50% and 80%), and the respective municipality provides the balance;
- Municipal budgets adopted every year by the Municipal Councils; and
- Private funding and sponsors include the private owners of monuments, foundations, national and international NGOs, including the А. G. Leventis Foundation, the World Monument Fund, the Headlеy Trust and the Messerschmidt foundation.
In addition to the seven UNESCO recognised cultural monuments of world significance, there are almost 40 000 of all other categories in Bulgaria. Cultural heritage has been protected since the founding of the Bulgarian state, but in recent years landmark urban buildings have been demolished – a result of, among other things, a lack of clear responsibilities of individual ministries, municipalities and other authorities in the Cultural Heritage Act. This has sparked public discontent and media debate on the topic. In order to have better management of the cultural heritage in the coming years, it is necessary to create a strategy for the cultural heritage, as well as to digitise the National Documentary Archive.
The Ministry of Culture also pursues a policy on the intangible cultural heritage through a specialized programme. The programme is related to the Bulgarian implementation of the UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. On November 10, 2017 the Director-General of UNESCO Ms. Irina Bokova and the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria Mr. Boil Banov signed the Agreement regarding the continuation in Sofia (Bulgaria) of the Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe under the auspices of UNESCO. This Agreement is concluded for a period of six years as from its entry into force.
In 2016, the technical preparation and implementation of the register of the intangible cultural heritage, related to providing an opportunity for promotion of the intangible cultural heritage and the national system “Living Human Treasures – Bulgaria”, begins. The register www.bulgariaich.com is interconnected with an inventory of the intangible cultural heritage: Living Human Treasures – Bulgaria and Folk-Art Fairs.