June 28 links a schoolhouse founded far beyond the border with the birth of a financial marketplace at home — two acts of institution-building in Bulgaria’s history.
1858 — The Bulgarian School in Bolhrad Is Established
On June 28, 1858, the Sts Cyril and Methodius People’s Central School opened in Bolhrad, Bessarabia, in what is now Ukraine. Known today as the Georgi S. Rakovski Bolhrad High School, it was the first comprehensive Bulgarian secondary school founded outside present-day Bulgaria.
The school trained teachers, intellectuals, and public figures who went on to shape the National Revival and the institutions of the liberated state, while remaining a lasting anchor of identity for Bessarabian Bulgarians. Its story shows how education and diaspora communities kept the Bulgarian language and culture alive beyond political borders.
1914 — The Sofia Stock Exchange Holds Its Constituent Meeting
On June 28, 1914, the Sofia Stock Exchange held its constituent meeting, marking the start of organised securities trading in Bulgaria. It offered a regulated venue for shares, bonds, and other instruments as the economy and corporate sector expanded.
Wars and political upheaval would repeatedly interrupt or reshape its activity, and organised capital markets vanished under communist rule before returning after 1989. Even so, the 1914 meeting remains the starting point of Bulgaria’s stock-exchange tradition and its early reach toward modern financial institutions.
