The head of Humanitarian Activities, Ms. Irena Petrova, presented a gratitude certificate to the participants;

The route of the charity marathon continues today through Pleven towards Sofia

The citizens of Ruse welcomed with bread and salt the participants in the 1000-kilometer charity marathon 1000 Balkan Charity Challenge from Bucharest to Sofia and back. To show their appreciation that one of the causes for which the marathon is collecting charity is the Nursing Home for Elderly Sick People Caritas Ruse, the head of Humanitarian Activities in Ruse Municipality, Ms. Irena Petrova, presented the participants in the activity with a gratitude certificate.

The gratitude certificate was presented to the initiator of the marathon, the CFO of UniCredit Tiriac Bank, Mr. Stanislav Georgiev. Stanislav, together with five more participants, including one woman, will cover the entire 1000-kilometer distance of the marathon. The remaining participants will cover different sections of the route.

"Organizing a charity marathon is a worldwide practice which aims at developing people's charity culture. Moreover, this is how we combine raising money for charity with the development of physical activity and environmental thinking", Stanislav Georgiev said when accepting the gratitude certificate.

Immediately after the brief welcoming ceremony on the square in Ruse, the marathon runners continued their journey. Today the participants will go through Pleven, and tomorrow (12 November) the first stage of the marathon will finish in Sofia. During this first stage, the participants have to cover 150 kilometers a day riding bicycles.

The second stage of the charity competition will start on 13 November, at 8:00 AM, in front of the UniCredit Bulbank building - the participants will run for about 65 kilometers per day from Sofia to Bucharest. The whole distance will be covered in 7 days.

The 1000 Balkan Charity Challenge marathon aims at collecting donations in support of more than 15 causes. Each of the participants has also chosen a specific cause to support and during the ten days of the marathon will try to encourage as many of their acquaintances, friends and supporters as possible to donate for it.

The causes relating to Bulgaria were proposed and administrated by Bulgarian Charities Aid Foundation. They include: Daycare center for children with disabilities St Mina, scholarships for orphans and semi-orphans with excellent grades and Aleksandrovska Nursery Home for Elderly and Daycare Center (Bankya).

For more information on all causes, included in the marathon, you can visit the charity website at: http://1000balkan.com.

As a leading European bank group, UniCredit supports the initiative via its banks in Bulgaria and Romania – UniCredit Bulbank and UniCredit Tiriac Bank respectively, which cover the organizational expenses.

The marathon will be organized with the logistic support of two running sports clubs – the Bulgarian Begach and the Romanian Ro Club Marathon.

More information for media:

UniCredit Bulbank, Identity & Communications Department

Viktoria Blajeva, Phone: + 359 2 9264 993, wjlj/ebwjepwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Ekaterina Ancheva, Phone: + 359 2 9264 963, flbufsjob/bodifwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Magdalena Ivanova, Phone: + 359 2 9232 528, nbhebmfob/jwbopwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch