Russian Academic Union in Bulgaria – a card of the project partner

The Russian Academic Society in Bulgaria (RASB) was set up on the initiative of representatives of the Russian scientific community in Bulgaria in 2004. One of the focuses of the organization’s activities has been the study of different waves of Russian immigrants and Russian-speaking immigrant communities, as well as the Russian community in Bulgaria in general as historical process and phenomenon.

As a first step, RASB, jointly with the Sts Cyril and Methodius National Library, organized and held a literary exhibition entitled “Russian Immigrants in Bulgaria 1878 – 2005”. A bibliographic index of the same name was also issued on the basis of the presented sources and the preliminary work on the exhibition. This step was very important because it allowed to analyse the studies carried out and outline the directions for future work.

In the following years RASB was an initiator of a number of exhibitions and conferences dedicated to the Russians in Bulgaria.

In 2009, RASB took part in a competition, won financing and published a unique book album “The Russian Immigrants in Bulgaria: history and modern times” with funding of the Russian World Foundation. This book identifies and described all Russian immigration waves to Bulgaria: beginning from the Old-Rite Kazakhs, who immigrated in Bulgaria in the beginning of the 18^th century, to the most recent immigrants from the Russian Federation and former Soviet republics, who arrived in Bulgaria after the disintegration of the USSR. The publication has been assessed in highly positive terms and is correctly considered one of the best books about Russians abroad. It was fully sold out and now a second edition of a supplemented and extended version is being considered.

For some time now RASB has been shifting its attention from the study of history to the contemporary problems of the Russian-speaking community in Europe. This is illustrated by its participation in several EU projects on youth problems through the organization of youth camps.

The involvement in the project confirms the new tendencies in RASB and the fact that it switches from studies of the past to the current problems of the Russian-speaking emigrants abroad.

Apart from these goals, RASB has mapped out the following tasks:

1. 1.To develop a uniform methodology for studying the integration of the Russian-speaking community abroad.
2. 2.To unite the volunteers in the organization through the activity on the project and to create conditions for the evolving of RASB into a structure of higher level of organization and merits.