August 14 (BTA) - The Bulgarian National Bank will put a new 5 leva banknote, issue 2020, into circulation as legal tender on September 4. It will be the last of a series of new banknotes denominated in the national currency, the central bank reported on Friday.

The overall design and the main elements of the banknotes of the new series feature no significant changes as compared with the banknotes already in circulation. There are changes related to the introduction of new security features, and for the 5 leva banknote they are as follows:

- An additional mark for visually impaired people: one thick and nine thin lines at an angle along the short sides of the banknote;

- A hologram stripe with optical effects;

- A security thread built into the paper and partially appearing on the reverse with a repeating light-coloured text "BNB 5" (in Cyrillic) and a vertical dynamic optical effect shifting its colour from red to green. The repeating text is visible on the obverse when the banknote is held up to the light;

- A high-resolution watermark, seen when the banknote is held up to the light. It represents a high-resolution half-tone portrait of painter Ivan Milev. The image is also visible on the reverse of the banknote.

The 5 leva banknotes, issues 1999 and 2009, will remain in circulation along with issue 2020. RY/VE
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