Speaker: Vladimir Toromanov
Mrs. Tsucatto, why did you decide to make the donation of the Pindovi family exactly to Varna and the Varna hospital?
Because I and Mr. Pindov were born in Varna. I went to the director and met the needs of the hospital. Serious money is being given against serious projects. Such a project was provided to us. Mr. Pindov agreed, and I realized it.
What was your personal involvement in implementing it?
I helped to achieve something different. On the one hand, I have directed Mr Pindov's money towards a major Bulgarian project.They have embroiled in something that exists real, which is verifiable, long-term and favors equally old and young, communists and non-communists. I had firmly resolved the funds not to be spent on "pseudo-help projects", mostly going to those that hamper the successful transition of the country into a market economy.
On the other hand, as a patron of Pindov for mediation I have invested 7 mln. I had the opportunity with my BGN 7 million to draw BGN 437 million. I think this is the smarter option. I want to emphasize that I and the Pindovi are not looking for any recognition. We make this gesture to remind people that there is such kind of goodness.
Yes, but readers can say that it is easy to do good by a very rich man without expecting to win.
To the west, of course, goodness is much more related to interest than to gossip, as is often expressed here. There they know very well that goodness is the real long-term interest for all. I and the Pindovi family are not as donors as builders - reminding people that there is goodness. In our nuclear world everyone has an interest in building more kindness.
It's been nearly seven years since you returned to Bulgaria. Some would say that you have lost the comfort to come to a country where you have a lot of nerves. Why?
Because I was born in Bulgaria. When you changed here, it was quite normal to come back. However, I have completed my education at the most prestigious American universities. I had the opportunity to work in television, in American cinema with the most famous directors, in the international business ... This is the mission of my life - to arm and to be useful here in Bulgaria. I have the feeling that it is more important to be useful here now than in the United States. The Bulgarians were behind the "Iron Curtain" while I had the chance to be to the west. I think it's better to share what I've learned and what I've seen.
What were the first impressions after your return?
My impression was and still is that when an unfamiliar point is expressed in Bulgaria, the feedback is "do not give me a shit." I find that here still I am "taking" and "giving". In the free world, money is taken and given, and a share is shared! When I share information, I do not lose this information, but only create conditions for a more thoughtful world. When I do good, I do not lose, but multiply the likelihood of building a more humane world. I communicate in the hope that people will turn me back to humanity and share something new to me that will help make my scenarios more interesting. I apologize, I can donate millions of levs, but I do not give any neurons from my wits!
Ever since you've been here, do you have a donation?
Through my company IST International, I was very busy at first by attracting US investors. But despite much work and effort, the many invitations of Americans here and of Bulgarians in the States - never get anything. So I spent a few years, until I find out that real foreign investments are like a foreign avenue - they are not wanted!
Where is the problem? In the administration or in some people?
If the problem was only in some people or in an administration, in a democratic state it is relatively easy to find a way out. This means that the problem here is on a fundamental basis. Though the unknown and the change are terrible for every man and every nation, this is even more pronounced in Bulgaria because communism paralyzed people's brains out of fear.
Which are the closest projects you work on?
I want to produce a television show, like the US comedies, in a half an hour every week. His name will be "New Thinking." The aim is to show a normal, modern Bulgarian family and its everyday perceptions. We are living in a modern, altered Bulgaria, and the model that I continue to see on the TV screen is George Ganchev and Bai Ganyo. It is logical that new Bulgaria has a new image. I claim the fact that I will find it, but I would like to invite people to engage in identifying the contemporary face of a Bulgarian who develops, who has the self-confidence of a European.
In the States, for example, such programs have been very useful for the social development of blacks. When a child sees black in the role of doctors and lawyers on the television screen, it is much more likely that it will be directed to the idea that he wants to become such. If the dark people are shown only as negative heroes, one child can not have alternatives. And perhaps this is the most important thing: to show on television that there are alternatives to the old models for the modern Bulgarian.
A few words in conclusion?
In connection with the TV program, I think there are many possibilities for a comedy that reproduces the normal Bulgarian life. And if we begin to see it as a comedy together, we will be made easier in our struggle for a new future. My wish is to learn how to respect, how to love, how to show more understanding to each other. This quality in the United States impresses me the most every time I come back.
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Submitted by admin on Wed, 11/20/2013 - 18:12