Those in the top three places will visit the European Parliament in Brussels.

“Our goal was to show you that whatever you want to achieve, it is possible here today in Bulgaria, if you have the confidence, ambition and desire for development,” said Dr. Eng. Manolova

“Today we have gathered here to promote success, honour inspiration, and reward talent.” This was announced by the President of the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria (CEBS) and CEO of Siemens Bulgaria Dr. Eng. Boryana Manolova at the opening of the awards ceremony forthe National Internship Initiative “Remain in Bulgaria”.

Official guests of the event were the MEP Eva Maydell, who is the patron of the initiative, the Israeli Ambassador to Bulgaria Mrs. Irit Lillian, members and friends of the Council, participants in the competition, media.

“Dear ladies and participants in the biggest and perhaps one of the most significant initiatives of this kind, for me it is a great pleasure that every year it includes so many young people who want to live in Bulgaria,”  Eva Maydell in her address.

Several dozen applications were submitted within the third edition of “Remain in Bulgaria”. The participants had to prepare a paper entitled “Portrait of the successful person I know”. The applications were assessed on criteria such as a clear personal position, clarity of content, choice of appropriate language tools, originality and correct Bulgarian language.

The essay of Anna Petrova was awarded the first place. Martina Teneva and Eliana Alexandrova were ranked second and third respectively.

“Our goal was through the national internship to show you that whatever you want to achieve, it is possible here today in Bulgaria, as long as you have the confidence, ambition and desire for development. We saw these qualities in all the works that participated in the competition, and that’s really great, so it was very difficult for us to choose the finalists, “said Dr. Eng. Manolova.

Among the awards were a one-day visit to the European Parliament organized by Ms. Eva Maydell and a visit to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s representation in Bulgaria provided by her Director, Larisa Manastirli . Among the other prizes are internships, visits to member companies of the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria, trainings, vouchers, etc. Israeli Ambassador Ms. Lillian awarded a special 6-month internship at the Embassy’s Public Diplomacy Unit.

“Succeeding is a balance – to strike a balance between all spheres of one’s existence, to distribute the maximum without sparing any energy and to find the harmony between one’s priorities. For me, an example of a successful person is my mother because of her unceasing energy to develop and to surpass herself ” said Anna Petrova, winner of the competition.

The “Remain in Bulgaria” Internship Initiative of the CWBB is the largest national campaign in the country offering an extremely broad profile of internship opportunities in economic sectors such as finance, energy, public administration, healthcare, manufacturing, high technology and services. The main objective of the program is to create conditions for the realization of young people in Bulgaria and to encourage them to stay in the country.

To achieve this goal, the members of the Council of Women in Business provide opportunities for hundreds of young people to work. By October 2017 the number of trainees was around 2000.