site.btaLocal Referendum Against Construction of Gunpowder Factory in Karlovo Fails First Hurdle

Nearly a third of the entries in a signature petition for holding a local referendum to block the construction of a gunpowder factory in the village of Iganovo are flawed, Karlovo Municipal Council chair Donyo Todorov said on Thursday.

He noted that he had received a letter from the Plovdiv unit of the Civil Registration and Administrative Services, who checked the signatures. The check found that more than 1,800 of the 6,090 signatures submitted to the Municipal Council were incorrect.

Based on the inspection and the data, Todorov has determined that the number of valid entries does not meet the requirements of the Direct Participation of Citizens in State Power and Local Self-Government Act. He will therefore return the petition to the initiative committee with an instruction to eliminate the irregularities within one month. 

In 2025, the Bulgarian government and German automotive and arms manufacturer Rheinmetall announced the start of a nearly EUR 1 billion project to build a gunpowder and ammunition factory in Karlovo (Central Bulgaria). The Karlovo chapter of the Vazrazhdane party organized a protest in front of the local municipality building on October 30 against the construction of a gunpowder factory in that town. The party collected signatures to hold a local referendum to block the project.