UNWE Won Again the Academic Oscar for Higher Education Institution with the Highest Institutional Accreditation According to the NEAA
![]() |
At an official ceremony organized by the newspaper 24 Hours for a consecutive year the UNWE won the Academic Oscar for the higher education institution with the highest institutional accreditation according to the National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency /NAEA/ and the most prestigious higher education institution in the professional field of Economics according to the employers and lecturers in higher education institutions.
The Rector of UNWE Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov received the award in the presence of the Bulgarian Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva, the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadzhov, the Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev, the Mayor of Sofia Municipality Vasil Terziev, the President of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Corr. Mbr. Evelina Slavcheva, Members of the Parliament, former Ministers of Education and Science, Rectors and representatives of the business.
The awards are based on the Rating System of Higher Education Institutions in Bulgaria - an annual ranking organized by the Ministry of Education and Science /MES/ and a consortium that includes the Open Society Institute and the Sirma Group. The ceremony of the newspaper 24 Hours presents the rating system as the best guide for young people and their parents about which universities and which professional fields give the best chances for realization; where could enter with the highest grades from the secondary education; which are the specialties that guarantee 100% employment immediately after graduation; what is the most profitable to study in Bulgaria.
The award was bestowed by Anna Pancheva, Recruitment and Employer Brand Manager at Kaufland Bulgaria /in the first picture from top to bottom/, who outlined: "On behalf of Kaufland Bulgaria, I am extremely pleased to give this award to the University of National and World Economy - a university that continuously sets high standards and actually makes the relation between the business and the education real. I can really say that we are an example of sustainable partnership. It started with the first practical business academy and created a bridge between the education and the business that has concrete faces and names. These are the people of our management team, the personal commitment of the Rector Prof. Dimitar Dimitrov and more than 50 students who have participated in our Business Academy in the last two years. 30% of them now continue their successful development in the company. We believe that action brings change and we see it through this partnership. Congratulations!".
The Rector of UNWE Prof. Dimitar Dimitrov expressed thankfulness to the organizers of the event and personally to Mrs. Venelina Gocheva and emphasized: “I am also extremely pleased to get this award. I receive it for the fifth consecutive time since I have been Rector. We work very well with the business. Mrs. Anna Pancheva mentioned the joint business academy between the UNWE and Kaufland Bulgaria but we have dozens of such business academies with different partners. We strive to help our students while they still study to connect with the business and support their development. This process is not very easy when we have 20 thousand students, 5000 of them in the dormitory, large facilities, 40 acres of built-up area, a sports complex. We make efforts to solve the problems and we look confidently to the future of European consortia, where our university and other Bulgarian universities participate together with their European partners. It is the place to raise the issue of the Common European Diploma and the sustainability of these consortia. In the course of this year, when our university is 105 years old, let us wish 104 more awards like this".
Venelina Gocheva, Publisher and Managing Director of Media Group Bulgaria and initiator of the Academic Oscars, opened the ceremony with the following words: "Mrs. Commissioner, your portfolio is Startups, Research and Innovation which will give added value to the higher education in Bulgaria and make it more competitive, more attractive not only for Bulgarian students but also for foreign ones. You are at the right place. Prof. D.Sc. Eng. Nikolay Valkanov, Chairman of the Board of Directors and owner of Minstroy Holding, again hosts this ceremony at his express insistence, not because it is important for him that this audience, highly appreciated today, talk among themselves, but because he is the example that the business in Bulgaria appreciates this added value and fights and helps, for which I thank him", added Venelina Gocheva and drew attention to the fact that the ceremony is organized in turbulent and dynamic political times so she wished the government to have time to complete the reforms in addition to the vision.
![]() |
Prof. Dimitrov held conversations with the Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev, the Mayor of Sofia Municipality Vasil Terziev, the Member of Parliament Yordanka Fandakova, Rectors of other universities and representatives of the National Representation of Student Councils /NRSC/.
Yordanka Fandakova, Prof. Dimitar Dimitrov and Krasimir Valchev | With the Mayor of Sofia Municipality Vasil Terziev |
The ceremony was also attended by Angel Stoykov, Chairman of the NRSC, and Dr. Daniel Parushev, Honorary Chairman of the NRSC /from the right to the left/ |