While some participants in the informatics team from Silistra had to secure their own funds for the trip to the USA in early August, the Deputy Mayor of the municipality for “Humanitarian Activities,” Maria Nedialkova, spent 6,000 leva from the local budget to accompany the students as a “driver.” This has come to light from an investigation by “Za Istinata.”
The event in question is the Microsoft Office World Championship 2023, which assesses the skills of students from around the world who performed excellently in national championships. This year, five students from Silistra qualified to participate in the competition, while the entire national team consisted of six members.
However, not all five students from Silistra had the opportunity to receive funding from the municipal budget like Deputy Mayor Maria Nedialkova. In previous years, the local administration supported the students’ participation in the event, but this time they were warned to seek funding independently for their trip. The parents of two of the children secured 12,000 leva for their participation in the Microsoft Office World Championship 2023, but the others were unable to raise the necessary funds.
This prompted their informatics teacher to submit a written request to the mayor of Silistra for funding for two additional students and for herself as a specially invited chaperone. The expenses for the fifth participant from the city were covered by Microsoft, as he ranked first in the national qualifying competition.
In the letter sent to the mayor and presented to the Municipal Council in May, Iskra Nikolova, an informatics teacher at the “Climent Ohridski” Nature-Mathematics High School in the city, informed that for yet another year, the students she prepared performed excellently, with five of them participating in the six-member national team of Bulgaria for the competition in Orlando, Florida.
According to Deputy Mayor Maria Nedialkova’s explanations given to the city councilors, the parents of two other students managed to find 12,000 leva for their children’s participation in the competition. The third student was funded by Microsoft, leaving the need for additional funds for the two other participants and their teacher, who had been specially invited to accompany the team.
With a decision made on May 25 of this year, the Municipal Council in Silistra approved funding of 18,000 leva from the municipality’s budget for two students from the team and their teacher. However, Deputy Mayor Maria Nedialkova herself also traveled to Orlando as their chaperone.
This became evident only after photos from the United States were shared on social media. It was only then that information was published on the municipality’s website stating that the team was “also accompanied” by Nedialkova.
According to the information provided to “Za Istinata” by the mayor of Silistra in response to an inquiry under the Access to Public Information Act, it turns out that 6,000 leva were allocated from the municipality’s budget without the approval of the Municipal Council.
The responses to the raised questions indicate that the municipality received an invitation from Associate Professor Nikolay Netov, the head of the national team, specifically requesting that Nedialkova be assigned to accompany the team. This invitation was received on May 26 of this year—the day after the Municipal Council in Silistra had already voted on the amount for the team’s travel expenses.
However, the most curious aspect of the entire situation is the role that Maria Nedialkova, the Deputy Mayor of Silistra for “Humanitarian Activities,” fulfilled during her trip to the USA.
The teacher of the students who participated in the competition, Iskra Nikolova, who we contacted by phone, commented to “Za Istinata” that Nedialkova’s inclusion indeed took place at the last minute, but it proved to be useful and necessary since the national team needed a leader and, most importantly, a driver (they used rented vehicles for transportation). While in the USA, Mrs. Nedialkova served as the group’s driver.
