American International Group

At the first International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI), held in Burgas from August 9 to 15, Bulgarian students achieved notable success. The competition saw participation from about 200 students across nearly 40 countries, each working on innovative AI projects for six days.

Hajdin Abazi, Kosovo's ambassador to Australia, posing with his photo with Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. Photo courtesy of Hajdin Abazi.

Following the easing of COVID-19 lockdown measures in Australia in June this year, I met Kosovo's then ambassador to the country, Hajdin Abazi, at a restaurant in Canberra to discuss the ongoing Serbia-Kosovo dialogue.

COVID-19 insurance policies are increasingly joining passports and sunscreen as vacation staples, creating opportunities for insurers as more countries require mandatory coverage in case visitors fall ill from the coronavirus.

The Balkan telecommunications and media company United Group, owned by BC Partners, has announced that it has agreed to acquire Bulgaria's leading telecommunications operator Vivacom, Reuters reported. The amount at which the transaction will be executed is not disclosed.

The country's biggest operator has been put up for sale after a court ruling appeared to draw a line under a long-standing dispute about the company's ownership.

There have been multiple legal challenges around legitimate ownership of shares as well as the sale process since the business was acquired at auction in 2015.

The English Commercial Court has dismissed an attempt by offshore entities to challenge the ownership of Vivacom, Bulgaria's largest telecoms network, just as the company is marketed to new investors.

Deutsche Telekom's Greek subsidiary, OTE, is to sell the whole of Telekom Albania to Bulgarian Vivacom owner Spas Roussev and an Albanian-Bulgarian businessman, Elvin Guri, OTE said on Wednesday in a press release.

The agency said this on Monday citing Albanian Top Channel broadcaster.

"Deutsche Telekom, the owner of Telekom Albania, is in the final stage of the procedure of selling its Albanian arm to Bulgaria's Vivacom," said the report, also carried by Bulgarian websites.

Vivacom launched Viva Smart, a new IoT platform that includes three products for clever urban management, data storage and smart education. The first is Viva Smart City, an innovative platform for urban management, monitoring and analysis that offers both community-based software and mobile applications for all its residents and guests.

Bulgaria's Vivacom has entered into an agreement with Stream Television Company to deliver its international feed for pay-TV platforms across Europe and the CIS.

As a result, Vivacom, the largest telco in Bulgaria operating one of Europe's few Tier 3 certified teleports in Europe, will distribute the international version of the hunting and fishing channel Rybalka I Okhota.