On February 10, 2023, Bulgaria officially launched the construction of its first quantum communication network at a ceremony hosted by the Centre of Competence QUASAR at the Institute of Robotics of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS). According to the BAS announcement, the project is part of the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) initiative.
QUASAR was designated the national coordinator for the initiative in Bulgaria. Within 30 months, the centre’s experts were tasked with piloting two quantum communication routes: one metropolitan network in Sofia connecting the data systems of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defence, banks, hospitals, and the Ministry of Transport; and a second, 280 km long-distance route connecting Sofia to the Greek border.
Attendees at the launch event included Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova, Vice Presidents of BAS, Brigadier General Vasil Sabinski from the Ministry of Defence Communications and Information Systems Directorate, and representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science. Academician Chavdar Roumenin, director of QUASAR, led the proceedings. Associate Professor Lachezar Georgiev, head of the EuroQCI initiative at the Institute of Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy at BAS, described quantum cryptography as a technology where security is guaranteed by the principles of quantum physics.