VARNA FREE UNIVERSITY TEAMS PERFORMED EXCELLENTLY IN MEDIATION COMPETITION
13 november 2025
Students from Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar" showed exceptional professionalism and team spirit at the seventh National Mediation Competition for Students, which took place a few days ago in Sofia. The forum, organised by the Centre for Dispute Resolution with the assistance of the National Association of Mediators, brought together 66 participants from nine leading universities.
A special award for the most diplomatic mediator was given to Tsvetelina Koleva, a third-year student of the Business Administration and Management specialty in distance learning.
Special attention deserves the performance of Ivan Bankov and Mihaela Dimitrova - fourth-year law students, Ivan Petrov and Tsvetelina Koleva - third-year students of Business Administration and Management, who brilliantly represented Varna Free University. During the competition, students Preslav Petrov - second-year student of Business Administration and Management and Siana Stoilcheva - fourth-year law student also performed excellently.
The university participated with two teams with students from the specialties Law and Business Administration and Management, led by the coaches and lecturers Asst. Prof. Beatrice Yordanova and Assoc. Prof. Ivanka Bankova, PhD. The coaches gave the best of their many years of professional experience so that the teams could present convincing legal arguments in accordance with the law and the legal framework, conduct successful negotiations and diplomacy, have knowledge of conflictology and negotiation skills. The preparation lasted two months, with an important role played by the teacher and expert in practice, Gergana Zhelyazkova, who assisted the students in developing strategies for asserting interests and effectively resolving disputes.
The teamwork of the students and teachers led to a strong and confident performance in the real competitive environment. Our teams received congratulations and the respect of the other participants, who expressed their satisfaction that they did not appear with such strong rivals in the final. The students of Varna Free University showed a strong spirit and excellent interaction with the other teams. Regardless of the final evaluation, they gained a lot of knowledge, skills and left with gained experience and new friends.
