Bulgarian computer scientist, Mr Evgeni Nikolov, says he may have found a cure for the Millennium Bug while trying to find a way of countering computer viruses, often produced in his country.
Mr Nikolov is director of the National Laboratory of Computer Virology with the Bulgarian Academy of Science. The laboratory makes anti-virus programs.
The Millennium Bug solution has not yet been patented and Mr Nikolov is reluctant to give any detailed information. But he may offer some clues for experts.
"The core of our idea is that one, two, or more components are being added to the operating environment, depending on the type of processor, on the type of platform and on the type of operating system," he said.
"As a result of that, the functions of the system's timer acquire new characteristics and the problem is to a large extent solved. In most cases it will be fully solved."
Mr Nikolov said leading patent lawyers from the United States, Britain, Germany and other front-runners in computer technology have contacted his team which is now debating the best way to patent its idea.
