Bookfest International Book Fair returns to Chisinau

Chisinau, August 29 /MOLDPRES/- After a two-year break, on August 31 - September 4, the 5th edition of the Bookfest Chisinau International Book Fair will take place at the State University of Moldova (USM).

During a press conference today, USM rector Igor Sharov, the moderator of the event, mentioned that this year's edition enjoys the High Patronage of President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu and President of Romania Klaus Iohannis. About 30 publishing houses on both banks of the Prut await reading lovers to choose from over 30 thousand volumes of books, exclusively in Romanian, at the best prices on the market. For five days, Bookfest visitors will have the opportunity to get to know the latest publishing offers, participate in book launches, literary debates, workshops and heart-to-heart meetings with beloved writers. "At the first edition of the Salon in 2016, I noticed that in terms of book sales, Chisinau was in second place after Bookfest Bucharest", said Igor Șarov.

Attending the event, Minister of Culture Sergiu Prodan said that the Bookfest Chisinau International Book Fair is one of the most important events of the year.

"The Ministry of Culture has supported and will continue to support the Bookfest Chisinau Fair, publishing houses, libraries and readers in the country. Together with the Government and the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, we took measures to support the reading trend. We set up Reading Day, which will be celebrated on February 14. We initiated changes to the Law on Publishing Houses, introducing the notions of electronic book and audio book, and we emphasized the financing of cultural magazines. Budgets related to book publishing and funding of cultural magazines. We launched a cultural voucher for young people aged 18 and over, with which they will benefit from cultural products. We need books like air. We want more books for children", said Prodan.

Director of the National Library of the Republic of Moldova Elena Pintilei said that the institution she leads is responsible for managing donations from publishing houses, and the executive director of the Association of Publishers from Romania, Mihai Mitrică, stated that out of the 30 publishing houses, 25 are from Romania and five - from Chisinau.

The first edition of the Bookfest Chisinau International Book Fair took place in 2016.