Members of the two largest trade unions, Podkrepa and the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) in the Maritsa East Mines took part Monday in a protest in front of the Stara Zagora Town Hall with the demand to preserve the mining-energy complex and as an expression of sharp disagreement with the proposed version of the Territorial Plan. The protest was scheduled for 10:00 am to coincide with the third discussion on the "Future for the Maritsa-East Energy Complex - Prospects and Challenges".
"We want to express our firm position that we disagree with the proposed Territorial Plans and some of the things written in the Recovery and Resilience Plan," Biser Binev, Podkrepa leader at the Maritsa East Mines, told BTA. He is adamant that the region of Stara Zagora should in not under any circumstances "be left to its fate." Because everything written in the Territorial Plan is wishful thinking, without any specifics and with complete ambiguity," he said. Binev added that in his opinion the envisaged transition is neither "smooth" nor "fair".
A second protest is scheduled for 6 pm outside the Stara Zagora Town Hall. According to the For Maritsa East Association chair Deyan Dyakov, the complex is a symbol of the people of Stara Zagora and the whole region of Stara Zagora, Radnevo, Galabovo and Nova Zagora. "Over 100,000 people work in the complex, directly and indirectly, who will be affected. These are 100,000 fates that are being decided on a map in Sofia without consulting our opinion. We oppose these backstage games," said the association's chairman. Dyakov added that this is the first in a series of protests that will demand that Maritsa East operate on coal for at least another 50 years. "We don't want to import electricity from Europe at an unknown price in winter when it gets cold, when it snows and the photovoltaics stop," he said.
/RY/
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