Access to Information Programme presents its annual awards for contributions in the field of freedom of information to celebrate the International Right to Know Day.

 

The ceremony is held at the Literary Club Peroto, National Palace of Culture, with the participation of citizens, journalists, representatives of civil society organizations and state institutions.

 

The 2025 awards are in the traditional six categories.

Golden Key Award goes to:

Martin Atanasov – creator of the Black Run map, a clear, structured, and accessible visualization of road traffic accidents in Bulgaria. To collect the necessary data, he submitted access to information requests to the Ministry of Interior and the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA). RIA refused to provide the data, but Martin appealed before the Sofia City Administrative Court, drafting the complaint himself. The Black Run platform contains data on 177,000 accidents in Bulgaria in the period 1 January 2021 – 14 April 2025. The initiative aims to gain deeper understanding of the causes of accidents.

Honorary Diploma goes to:

Boyan Yurukov – blogger who, through an access to information request, asked for the list of 4,400 properties the state planned to sell. Mr. Yurukov collected the addresses into a map showing city streets, inter-block spaces, historical landmarks, cultural and sports zones, attractive resort properties, and even entire peninsulas. His work raised important public questions – in whose interest is the sale; is it necessary; why are the properties not being given to municipalities, etc.

Category “NGO that used the right to information most actively”

Golden Key Award goes to:

Institute for Market Economics (IME) for using access to information requests to prepare analyses, publications, and commentaries that enhance transparency and increase civic engagement regarding local development. An example is their annual edition Regional Profiles – Indicators of Development, which assesses regional economies. For several indicators, IME submits requests to all municipalities each year. In 2025, they submitted 265 requests, and since 2012 a total of 3,445. The data is processed and made available on IME’s website and is used in Regional Profiles and other research on local development, tax policy, decentralization, local services financing, municipal administrative capacity, and more.

Honorary Diploma goes to:

Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) for using access to information requests to reveal how the Prosecutor General exerts significant control over the activities and administration of the special prosecutor tasked with investigating crimes committed by the Prosecutor General or his deputies. The information was obtained as part of BHC’s consistent efforts to increase transparency in the prosecution system.

Category “Best journalist campaign/article related to the right to information”

Golden Key Award goes to:

Yanka Petkova, OFFNews, for a series of articles based on data obtained through access to information requests about the opaque spending of funds under the national program for promoting transplants, survival rates after transplants in Bulgaria, and a specific case of a patient who died from a hospital-acquired infection after transplantation. Following her publications, the issue of transplants and the irresponsible attitude of the Executive Agency “Medical Supervision” came to the fore. Her persistence and constant pressure on institutions exposed many dubious practices and brought the topics of transplantation and organ donation into the public spotlight.

Honorary Diplomas go to:

• Desislava Nikolova, Capital, for systematic, large-scale investigations into the functioning of the healthcare system in Bulgaria, using access to information procedures. Her investigations, addressing matters of life and health, raised issues for public debate, caught the attention of the Sofia City Council and other institutions, questioned decision-making in the National Health Insurance Fund, and exposed previously hidden healthcare problems.

• Emiliya Dimitrova, Za Istinata, who submitted a request to the mayor of Sevlievo Municipality for the schedule of construction works under a project to reconstruct and replace water pipelines in the town center. After the municipal secretary denied access, she appealed with AIP’s help before the Gabrovo Administrative Court. The court overturned the refusal, and the case was reported in Za Istinata.

Category „Institution that has organized the provision of public information most efficiently"

Golden Key Award goes to:

 

Sliven Municipality, which, since the adoption of the Access to Public Information Act 25 years ago, has consistently maintained a high standard in its application and serves as a model. Both municipal leadership and the administration responsible for the Act show continuity, precision, transparency, consistency, and innovation.

Category „Institution that does not fulfill its obligations under the APIA and violates citizens’ right to information”

Padlock Anti-award goes to:

Executive Agency “Medical Supervision” for refusing journalists access to information related to projects under the National Program for Promoting Organ Donation and Transplantation 2024–2028. Instead of improving transparency and complying with court rulings that third-party protection cannot justify full denial of information on public spending, the agency continues to refuse, hiding behind third-party consent. Such practice is especially harmful in healthcare, given that this is the sole central authority responsible for controlling medical care quality and organizing transplant activities, and its refusal to act transparently undermines protection of citizens’ health rights.

Dishonor Award goes to:

The Special Prosecutor for investigating the Prosecutor General and his deputies – access requests addressed to Daniela Taleva are redirected to the Deputy Prosecutor General. This paradoxically allows those under investigation to decide whether information on relevant cases should be disclosed. As a result, refusals have become standard practice.

Category „Most absurd and/or funniest case involving access to information”

Tied Key Anti-award goes to:

Mayor of Galabovo Municipality, for hiring a lawyer to contest journalist Venelina Popova’s appeal against a silent refusal, with the obvious aim of claiming costs from her, despite the municipality having its own legal counsel. The mayor’s notification that the municipality does not have the requested information was unconvincing. After securing a court ruling against the journalist for costs, the mayor transferred the case to a private bailiff, who forced her to pay BGN 1,000 in legal costs, plus nearly the same amount again for enforcement and attorney fees. To collect the sum, the bailiff froze her bank accounts and pension and scheduled an inventory of her household belongings.

 

The full reasoning for each of the 27 nominations can be found on the special Right to Know Day webpage.

 

Interviews with the awardees will be published in AIP’s Newsletter and on the Right to Know Day page. Follow us on Facebook.

 

 

 

==============================================  

 

 

Right-to-Know Day 2023 Campaign and Ceremony is run within the project Access to Information and Transparency Advice Center supported by a grant from America for Bulgaria Fondation. The statements and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the Access to Information Programme and do not necessarily reflect the views of teh America for Bulgaria Foundation or its affiliates.