{"id":1270,"date":"2010-01-01T12:19:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-01T10:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bronicable.com\/en\/uncategorized\/on-this-day-in-bulgaria-december-19\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T10:21:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T08:21:03","slug":"on-this-day-in-bulgaria-december-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bronicable.com\/en\/on-this-day-in-bulgaria\/on-this-day-in-bulgaria-december-19\/","title":{"rendered":"On This Day in Bulgaria: December 19"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>December 19, 1998 \u2014 Bulgaria Is Divided into 28 Regions<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>On this day in 1998, the National Assembly amended the Territorial Administration of the Republic of Bulgaria Act, changing the country\u2019s regional structure from nine regions to twenty-eight. The reform reshaped Bulgaria\u2019s administrative map and restored a territorial framework closer to the familiar district-based organization used in public administration. The new regions and their administrative centers were later defined by presidential decree in January 1999. This change mattered because regional boundaries affect state services, local governance, planning, statistics, and the relationship between central and local institutions. The reform became part of Bulgaria\u2019s broader post-communist effort to reorganize administration and adapt government structures to new political and economic realities.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>December 19, 2002 \u2014 The Government Decides to Resume the Belene Nuclear Project<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>On this day in 2002, Bulgaria\u2019s Council of Ministers decided to resume construction of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant, a project that had been put on hold in 1991. Belene was one of the most debated energy projects in modern Bulgarian history. Supporters saw it as a way to secure electricity production, preserve nuclear expertise, and strengthen Bulgaria\u2019s role in the regional energy market. Critics raised concerns about cost, financing, seismic risk, environmental questions, and dependence on foreign technology. The 2002 decision reopened a long political and economic debate that would continue for years, making Belene a recurring symbol of Bulgaria\u2019s difficult choices over energy strategy.<\/p>\n<p>Explore more of Bulgaria\u2019s story on <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bronicable.com\/en\/\">Bronicable<\/a><\/strong>, including our <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bronicable.com\/en\/category\/from-above\/\">Bulgaria From Above<\/a><\/strong> series and our guides to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bronicable.com\/en\/category\/bulgaria\/\">the best of Bulgaria<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Continue with <a href=\"https:\/\/bronicable.com\/en\/on-this-day-in-bulgaria\/on-this-day-in-bulgaria-december-18\/\">December 18<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/bronicable.com\/en\/on-this-day-in-bulgaria\/on-this-day-in-bulgaria-december-20\/\">December 20<\/a>. For more stories and places, explore <a href=\"https:\/\/bronicable.com\/en\/category\/from-above\/\">Bulgaria From Above<\/a> and the guides in our <a href=\"https:\/\/bronicable.com\/en\/category\/bulgaria\/\">Bulgaria<\/a> category on <a href=\"https:\/\/bronicable.com\/en\/\">Bronicable<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On this day in Bulgarian history: Bulgaria changed its territorial administration to 28 regions in 1998, and the government decided to resume the Belene nuclear project in 2002.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3277,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-on-this-day-in-bulgaria","latest_post"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - 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