On March 22-23, 2019, the International Conference "Arbitration - New Challenges" was held, jointly organized by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the High Bar Council and the Sofia Bar Association, with 131 participants.

The event discussed topics related to arbitration, new technologies and business of the 21st century, protection of personal data and intellectual property, interaction between court and arbitration, and other topics related to the activity of arbitration courts and international practices.

The conference was attended by presidents of arbitration courts from leading European countries, Bulgarian and international arbitrators, members of bar associations, judges and lawyers involved in the problems of interaction between the court and arbitration and others.

The participants were welcomed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Yuri Shterk, the Chairman of the Supreme Bar Council, Adv. Ralitsa Negentsova, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the BCCI, Mr. Tsvetan Simeonov, and the Chairman of the SAC, Adv. Ivaylo Danov.

Reports on the topics were presented to the foreign guests by the Chairman of the International Relations Committee of the National Council of French Bar Associations, the Chairman of the Madrid AC, a representative of the Paris and New York Bar Associations. Mr. Angel Kalaidjiev, Mrs. Aneta Antonova, Mr. Dobromir Grozev, Mr. Alexander Katsarski, Mr. Ivaylo Dermendjiev and Mr. Blagovest Punev presented reports on behalf of the AC at the BCCI.

In a separate panel, Mr. Ivaylo Dermendjiev presented the topic of arbitration in the field of sports. The subject of arbitration for the resolution of collective labor disputes was presented by Mrs. Mariana Ivanova - chief expert at National Institute for Conciliation and Arbitration (NICA).

Bulgarian, French, English and Spanish were designated as working languages ​​during the Conference.

The conference took place with exceptional interest on the part of the participants in the issues subject to discussions on the main topics. During the discussions, the speakers shared legislative and practical experience from different countries. This exchange of views on important and new problems of international commercial arbitration was assessed as an extremely useful source of information necessary for the successful development of international economic cooperation.