Balgarianovinite.com Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev proposed that the Sofia Municipality acquire free of charge from the State the sculptural figures and bas-reliefs from the Monument to the Soviet Army, according to a report included in the agenda for the upcoming Sofia Municipal Council meeting on May 14.
The report concerns agreement for the transfer of management rights over a property – private state-owned, as well as ownership rights over movable assets stored there. The property in question is located in the Pancharevo District, the village of Lozen, and is currently managed by Sofia Regional Governor for the needs of the Sofia Municipality’s Emergency Assistance and Prevention Directorate. The site currently stores bronze figures from the Monument to the Soviet Army, including a Red Army soldier, a peasant woman, and a worker.
The report notes that the Monument to the Soviet Army in its entirety also includes other compositional elements: two compositions – “Welcoming the Soviet Army,” the relief composition “The Patriotic War,” the relief composition “The Rear,” the relief composition “October 1917,” and “Wreaths of Glory,” which are located on a property on Evlogi and Hristo Georgiev Blvd. No. 99-A in Sofia.
With the aim of ensuring the lasting fulfilment of public needs of local significance, it is proposed that the Sofia Municipal Council approve the municipality’s free acquisition of all the above-described sculptural figures and bas-reliefs from the monument. After their acquisition, the Municipality intends to hold discussions and a public consultation on the appearance and location of the artistic ensemble as part of the city’s cultural memory. The total maximum book value of the assets is EUR 12,203,560.18, the report also states.
On December 12, 2023, the dismantling of parts of the Monument began. The figures on top of the main structure were removed by December 19. Since then, the monument and the area in its vicinity has been fenced off.
The monument was built in 1954 in a large park in central Sofia, called the Knyazheska Garden. It portrays a soldier from the Soviet Army as a freedom fighter, surrounded by a Bulgarian woman, holding her baby, and a Bulgarian man. There are other, secondary sculptural composition parts of the memorial complex around the main monument. The park is a popular place where many young people gather.
The Monument to the Soviet Army in Sofia is the most impressive of several dozen such structures scattered throughout the country and one of over 4,000 memorials to the USSR’s drive against Hitler’s Germany in WW II across Europe. For long years, there has been talk of taking it down and moving it out of the city centre but the issue has turned out to be too sensitive for some people and political parties in Bulgaria, and the project too divisive for society. Sofia Mayor Proposes Acquisition of Soviet Army Monument Elements by Sofia Municipality Free of Charge 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-05-09 18:10:00 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law