Vidin District is located in the northwestern part of Bulgaria and covers an area of 3,032.9 sq km, which represents 2.73% of the country’s territory. The population of Vidin region is 86,927, which represents 1,23 % of the Bulgaria’s population (as of 31/12/2017). The region has a good potential for economic and demographic development. In its age structure, the share of people between the ages of 15 and 64 years is 58,72 % of the population. Key economic sectors for the region are agricultura, tourism, light industry, food & beverages, transportation & logistics, IT, outsourcing of business activites and healthcare. The school network of the region has 32 schools (1 primary school, 13 grade schools, 12 secondary schools, 4 VET centres and 2 profiled highschools).
For the implementation programs and measures for training, employment and vocational qualification in Vidin during 2019, a total amount of 2,044,651 BGN were paid. Employment includes 476 persons, of which 372 are newly employed. A total of 265 people are enrolled in training, of which 217 are unemployed and 48 are employed. Funds paid are 98.85% of the allocated funds for the year, which are 2 068 402 BGN.
The Vidin Regional Governor Albena Georgieva participated in the establishment of the “Regional Innovation Center Northwest” on January 8th, 2020 in Sofia. The Regional Innovation Center is an association for supporting, promoting, representing and protecting the regional capacity to introduce and develop innovation, through the enhancement of cooperation between business and scientific research organizations, universities and other scientific and educational institutes. The creation of the “Northwest Regional Innovation Center” is another step towards improvement of the business-science partnership, for the benefit of the regional economy. From its foundation, the association has set itself the goal of building and developing a modern research and innovation infrastructure. This will help towards the acceleration of the economic and social development of the area. The Innovation Center will manage projects involving the implementation of industrial scientific researches and experimental development for promotion of the innovations.
Albena Georgieva, the Regional Governor of the Vidin region, has established the Regional council for the implementation of the policy on the rights of persons with disabilities of the Vidin region. The Council was established on the 29 Novemebr 2019, with Order №RD09/155 from the same date. The first meeting of the Council, was held on the 9 December 2019. The first decision of the Council was the adoption of the Statute, by which, the council will function. The aim of the Regional Council for the implementation of the policy on the rights of persons with disabilities of Vidin region is to create equal opportunities and rights for the people with disabilities and to ensure, that they lead a complete and full way of life.
Most of the primary schools and vocational high schools in Vidin are working under the EU program “Erasmus +” for support of education, training, youth and sport in Europe. List of the schools and information about the projects under implementation: