THE CYPRIOT BUSINESSMAN IN BULGARIA CHRIS VIOLARIS BEFORE THE NEWSPAPER “BULGARIAN NEWS” – I PAY HOMAGE TO VASIL LEVSKI, I LOVE BULGARIA AS MY MOTHERLAND.
Branislava Bobanats
A bas-relief of the Apostle of Freedom Vasil Levski will be open in front of the building of the Bulgarian Embassy in Nicosia today, December 4, 2012 by the Vice-President of the Republic of Bulgaria Mrs. Margarita Popova. A donation campaign was initiated among the Bulgarian community on the island to raise the funds necessary for its construction. 6000 euros were collected and most of them (5000 euros) were given by Chris Violaris, a Cypriot businessman who works and lives permanently in Bulgaria.
At the eve of the official opening of the bas-relief we are talking to Mr. Violaris about Levski, Bulgaria and Cyprus, about the gratitude, the national memory and the human values.
Read the full text of the interview with Mr. Violaris in Bulgarian
Who is Chris Violaris – the person who made the greatest contribution so that we, the Bulgarians in Cyprus, can have a monument of the Apostle of Freedom Vasil Levski?
I had the huge luck to be born in a family of farmers at the village of Larnacas tis Lapithou (now under the occupation of the Turkish army) of the Kyrenia District of Cyprus and to be brought up surrounded by good people and pure nature. My father and mother were excellent people and gave to my three sisters and myself all the best. We were brought up with a lot of love and care always been taught to do good and to be proud of ourselves. Though my parents were not very rich, they made sure that we had the best education available in those days. My mother, who had great influence on my character, taught me some basic but very important principles.
Do you follow these principles?
Yes, I do. The first one is to love my country and my people and be fair always. The second one is to fight for my rights and what is honourable and correct and protect the people who are related to me or come to me for help. The third principle that I learned form her is to be always thankful and appreciate the help, love and support I receive from others and to show this in practice and not just by words.
And furthermore – when God and nature chooses to bless some people with all the good things, to be leaders and successful members of the society, this should not be taken as a gift, but as a huge responsibility to the rest of the people who are not so blessed and gifted. In short what life gives you is not all yours but you need to share it.
Was this urge to share the reason for your participation and donation of such a huge sum in the campaign for the bas-relief of Vasil Levski in Cyprus?
I always wanted to share the fruit of my life and one of the opportunities that came along, was to help effectively with the construction of the monument of the great Bulgarian hero Vasil Levski.
You call my financial participation “donation”, but you are wrong! What it is really is a small token of homage to a Great Man and a Great Patriot who gave his life for the freedom and honour of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian History. I am fully conversant and aware of the history of the Bulgarian Nation and its struggle for freedom and independence from the Turkish yolk! In some way I feel jealous that people like Vasil Levski, Capitan Petko Kyriakov Chieftain and a lot of other great heroes, had the great honour to fight for freedom and give their lives for the greatest of human values, that of freedom. In our days these values are forgotten and they should not be!
„By making this donation I would like to express my gratitude to Bulgaria which I feel as my second motherland. It is a token of homage to the life-work of the Apostle with which I am fully conversant and before which I bow down.”This is what you said when handing over the sum at the Bulgarian Embassy a year ago. What does this gratitude of yours mean?
I once stated that I love Bulgaria as my second motherland! I was wrong, in fact I love Bulgaria as my motherland and I feel much more as a true Bulgarian than a lot of Bulgarians do. For me Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people represent the missing part of myself which for years, after my own birthplace was forcefully taken away by the Turkish army, I was searching for! Bulgarians are my brothers and compatriots and Bulgaria is my caring and loving mother. In Bulgaria I found love, respect, recognition, support, loyalty, confidence and the fertile ground to set my roots and give fruit, a lot of healthy and sweet fruit which, as I already stated, I want to share now!
Where does this strong bond with our country come from? When and where was it born?
I visited Bulgaria for the first time in 1989 right at the time of the political changes. My first visit made me feel a strong attraction to the country and her people. Though these were very difficult times, I felt at home and been surrounded by my “own” kind of people.
I returned to Bulgaria in 1993, this time for professional reasons and the same urge, this time much stronger was going through my soul. During my stay in Varna which lasted two months, I had the exceptional luck to meet my wife, Assya, we fall in love and eventually got married in London in October 1993. It didn’t take me long to take the “big” decision! I resigned from a top management position which I held with one of the world’s biggest banks and in December 1993, my wife and I settled permanently in Varna. It didn’t take me long to fall in love with Varna, where I started making friends and setting deep roots. Together with my wife we started a clothing business, we bought a number of clothing factories and before long we were employing over 600 people, mainly in remote areas with high unemployment. I remember asking the mayor of a small town near Shumen, how the people who were working in our factory in the town, felt now they had work and were working for us. Her answer was the best and biggest “thank you” I heard ever from a person! She said “you put the smile and hope back on our face again”.
Have you ever wished to give up?
These were difficult years for the people of Bulgaria and for us naturally! There were times when the difficulties and the negative administration, would make me wander if I was doing the right thing by staying and fighting on! My logic was telling me I was wrong, but my heart was telling me I was right! What made me strong and made my dedication even stronger, was the love and loyalty of the people around me, family, workers, associates and friends.
The economic situation in Bulgaria is very hard also at the moment, how is your business going?
My company is probably one of the biggest private companies that invested in Bulgaria and most specifically in the wider region of Varna, Balchik and Shumen. We invest in residential and industrial development and we have played a leading role in the preparation of the new Master Town Plan of Varna. Our future plans include the construction of the new part of the city in an upgraded area which we own, which will include a modern infrastructure, preservation and protection of the natural beauty of the region, ethnographical villages with representative architecture from all over Bulgaria, two golf courses, one private hospital a marina for yachts ! In general a modern city that will offer quality of life to its residence. I strongly believe in the future of the Bulgarian Economy, a view which is greatly shared by our Qatari royal partners, who have recently started investing massively in Bulgaria.
Nowadays people in Bulgaria as well as in Cyprus have to face a lot of daily problems and hardships related to their work and incomes. Is there any time to think about history and its heroes like Vasil Levski, patriotism, eternal values?
A great man once said …if you want to enslave a country you take their national honour away, their culture and leave them no hope! You don’t need to send your armies in, they will surrender voluntarily!” I am not against anybody and I don’t consider anybody as an enemy! Having said that, I feel also that if a person chooses to ignore his roots, his culture, and his history this person is lost! The answer to our problems which are in any case global is to stick together, to fight together and work together to change what is stopping our development and evolution. The Bulgarians and especially the Bulgarian youth, have a million reasons to be proud of their history, their culture and their country. By adopting imported subcultures, by copying other ways of life which are my much inferior to ours, by looking down and denouncing our roots, by denying our history and our passage through the ages, we get no where.
We should never abandon our national honour and pride, we should cultivate and maintain our culture and encourage people to have realistic and peaceful hope for the future. The statement which I hear sometimes from some people that “we the Bulgarians are no good and a post people” should never cross our lips! The last 20 years, were very difficult and critical for Bulgaria. During these years and besides the problems we all know, the rule of anarchy and criminal activity, Bulgaria has manage to take a lot of decisive steps forward. I am sure and fully confident that in the years to come our country will see much more development, improvement and upgrading of its status.
It is wrong to accuse the Bulgarian People of incompetence, simply because we should consider that today for the first time in its long history the people of Bulgaria is free and enjoys real freedom. It takes time for the ordinary person in the streets to understand and use freedom properly. Democracy and Freedom are not the expression of a political system, but the practical application of a political culture and tradition. Bulgarians need some time to convert these values. Surely the new generations will build a much better country and better society than ours. Simply we should stop wandering what we need to do and do it!
For example? What can we do?
There is always a way to help, as long as you want to help. In my case and to the extent where my time and my available finances allow me, I have been active in this respect! At the village of Konstantinovo, Varna region, my company has been financing and promoting a cultural group for children called by their parents “ Ensemble Violaris” where we promote National Dancing and Music, cultural events, national celebrations etc. We have involved all the kids from the village from 3 to 16 years old and we have more than 120 members who are very active.
My company, Eurolink Investment Group has established a yearly event called “Choose Life” which offers practical and financial help to children in need and gives also scholarships to excellent poor students to carry on their studies. Bulgaria has to return back to its old glory and play its peaceful and democratic role in the Balkans and the United Europe! This can only be done by been proud of our history and our culture and love of our country.
You have lived in Bulgaria for 19 years now. Which are the moments that you will remember above all?
I have already completed 19 years in Bulgaria as a permanent resident. I have my fantastic family here, most of my real friends are here, most of my property is here, and therefore my life is in Bulgaria. Naturally after 19 years I have some unforgettable memories as I have a few bad ones. One of my strongest and lasting memories was when I caught my self in tears, really crying watching on TV the serial about Petko Chieftain! The film managed to bring back to my mine how many times history repeats itself and how the people who fought and gave their lives for their country at the end they are treated by the scams who were the real traitors and offer nothing! But always manage to climb on the neck of their compatriots.
The second memory which I always bring back to my mind came through a visit I made in a village in the region of Kavarna in 1994. I was invited by the father of a girl who used to work for us, to there house. A very poor family, living in a small old but very clean and tidy house. We were invited to the table and this man put everything he had on that table! Some onions, pickled peppers, some pig lard, he then opened his old Russian fridge and brought out everything that was in there. About half I kilo of white cheese, two sausages and a bottle of rakiya! I will never forget that man and his hospitality! We are still very good friends and whenever I get the chance, I go to see him.
Which Bulgarian characteristics do you like and which you do not?
Real Bulgarians are genuine, openhearted and if they trust you, they can be loyal friends for life. I have a lot of friends like that. I never made the mistake which most foreigners do, to look down on any Bulgarian! I treat them and I consider them as equals and pay me back with love and respect.
In what we, Bulgarians, and Cypriots do look alike and in what are we different?
I can not find much difference between Bulgarian and Cypriots except the language which as it appears has never been a barrier for the brotherly relationship between the two people. Cypriots consider Bulgarian as first cousins, if not brothers and sisters.
Mr. Violaris, how do you assess the existing business contacts, cultural and other relations between Bulgaria and Cyprus and how can they be enriched?
It is a great honour for me to be a close friend of Ambassador Veselin Valtchev who has and keeps doing a great job in promoting and improving Cyprus-Bulgarian friendship and cooperation. Cypriots consider Bulgarians as their closer relatives in the Balkans, some even closer than Greeks. This close bond has to be strengthen further and the two countries to get closer and closer for the common good. We are among the small nations in the EU and we need to stick together to achieve the best results. My company is an active member of the Cyprus-Bulgarian Business Association and from this post we do whatever we can to promote cooperation. Unfortunately the centre of our professional activity is in Varna and Doha-Qatar and probably we have not done much for the promotion of the Cyprus-Bulgarian cooperation, but our influence in Qatar has started to bring fruits in Bulgaria.
There are many Bulgarians who have lived in Cyprus for years but at present as a result of the economic crisis they are faced with numerous problems. As a Cypriot what would you advise them?
I am fully aware of that. I keep in touch with the Bulgarian Community in Cyprus and I have a lot of friends among them. I will strongly advise Bulgarians living in Cyprus to remain, besides the problems and to demand their rights from their employers. As EU equal citizens they have the same rights as the Cypriots, therefore before the law they are equal. They should respect the law and demand to have the protection of the law. To register in the election lists and vote whenever we have elections, 30.000 votes can make the difference in a small country like Cyprus and therefore they have ways to demand their rights and ways to secure their rights. I advise the Bulgarians of Cyprus to keep close to the embassy and support all its initiatives, to be united among them and to show mutual respect and solidarity. We are going through difficult times all over Europe, but Cyprus has every chance to recover quickly and return back to development. Bulgarians should stay and fight together with their Cypriot brothers for a better future, which I believe will come soon!
What would you like to wish to the readers of our newspaper “Bulgarian news” and to all the Bulgarians in Cyprus?
My message is a message of hope and fight for a better life, better education and a better world. I send my unconditional love and support, my solidarity and my eternal commitment to the ideas and the principals which led Vasil Levski! We are a nation who has every right to live and live better and nothing can stop us from doing so, in peace and full brotherhood with the rest of the Balkan people!