Residents of a village near Lovetch, who have been without power for five days, plan to protest on Monday, aiming to block the Sofia-Varna road in the Ablanitsa area for an hour starting at 10 am. The local police and the municipal administration in Lovetch have been informed.
Organizers expect at least 200 people to join the protest. In an interview with BNR, Mayor of Radюvene, Ignat Igniev, who is one of the organizers, stated that people can’t take it anymore. “It’s been five days since many households have been without electricity. The situation is critical and dire,” he said.
In Devetaaki, a man named Dragomir Dimitrov reported that for the fifth day, a fallen streetlight pole is stuck in his house. Although numerous alerts have been sent, no measures have been taken. “The mayor and the director of the Energy company came, but nothing has been done for five days. The wires are hanging in the house, and at night, the streetlight was on, which could have caused a fire in the house,” he said.
The situation is not unique to this area. Earlier, it was reported that a man and two women were rescued from Kounarskoto, a village in T’rvenen, after being stranded due to heavy snow. They were from Gurkovo and had gone to their family’s house for the holidays but got stuck. They were without power and food for two days.
The family was rescued using a high‐clearance vehicle provided by the Regional Fire Safety and Population Protection Directorate (PBFN). Two firemen from Gabrovo, the head of the PFBN service in Tryavna, Stoyan Stoyanov, and the director of the municipality’s greening enterprise, Plamen Kralev, were involved. The family was immediately provided with food and water.
Many populated areas are still without power, five days after the heavy snowstorm. The problems are mainly in the L’vetch, Troyan, Plevin, and Tryavna regions. Ignat Igniev said that about 40 houses are still without power, affecting disadvantaged families. He also mentioned that fallen trees have damaged powerlines, and he hopes that repair crews will arrive soon to fix the issues.
L’vetch Mayor Strachimir Petkov stated that there is a high level of dissatisfaction and tension among the people in these areas. “Some are threatening disobedience. The worst part is that these villages had no water last summer, and now they have no water or power,” he explained.
In Apriltzi, there was no power for all subscribers on Sunday morning. Mayor Tihomir Kook gliowski blamed “Elektrohold” and the Energy Regulatory Commission for the problems. “Every time it snows heavily or rains, we end up in this situation,” he concluded.
Power and mobile communication issues also persist in Tryavna. Repairs are underway in Elena and the surrounding villages. Before that, water supply was stopped in Zlataritsa due to a fault.
On Saturday, the caretaker Energy Minister, Vladimir Malinov, announced that the caretaker government will allocate 2 million leva to support households without power. “Every distribution company must pay the penalties specified in the general terms of the contracts for access to the corresponding distribution network. According to these, customers who have been without power for more than 48 hours should receive a penalty of 30 leva for the first 24 hours, and 20 leva for every subsequent 12 hours,” the cabinet announced.
In addition to the penalties, the state will double the compensation by paying an additional 30 leva for customers who have been without power for more than 24 hours, and 20 leva for every subsequent 12 hours. It is estimated that more than 20,000 households will benefit from this aid, totaling over 2 million leva.
