Hundreds Still Without Power After Heavy Snowfall in Bulgaria
Four days after heavy snowfall, many residential areas across Bulgaria are still grappling with power outages. The hardest hit regions include Loving, Troyan, Pleven, and TURNovo.
In Lovach, the mayor of Radiveno village, Ignat Igniev, reported that around 40 households remain without electricity. He described these households as severely impacted.
"Igniev said, "We have fallen trees that have disrupted the power lines. We hope that crews will arrive today to fix these issues, as the situation is becoming critical."
Loving Mayor Stratsimir Petkov expressed concern about the growing discontent and tension among residents in these areas.
"Some are threatening to disobey. The worst part is, many of these villages didn’t have water last summer, and now they don’t have water or electricity," Petkov explained.
In Apriltsi, there was no power to all subscribers on Sunday morning. Mayor Tihomir Kukensky blamed "Elektrohold" company and the Water and Energy Regulatory Commission for the issues.
"Every time it snows heavily or gets wet, we’re in this situation," he summarized.
Power outages and mobile communication issues are also affecting TURNOVO. Crews are working to restore power in Elena and nearby villages. Before yesterday, water supply was stopped in Zlatitsa due to damage.
On Monday, Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov announced that the caretaker government will allocate 2 million levs to support households without electricity.
"The Cabinet said each of the three electricity distribution companies must pay the penalties specified in their general agreements for accessing the respective electricity distribution network. According to these agreements, customers without electricity for more than 48 hours should receive a penalty of 30 levs for the first 24 hours, and 20 levs for every subsequent 12-hour period exceeding 36 hours."
In addition to these penalties, the state will also pay consumers 30 levs for every 24-hour period they are without power, and 20 levs for each subsequent 12-hour period.
It is expected that over 20,000 households will benefit from this funding, totaling more than 2 million levs.
