site.btaVelichie Deputy Floor Leader Blames Government for Waste Mismanagement

Velichie Deputy Floor Leader Krasimira Katincharova Wednesday presented the reasoning behind the fourth no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov’s cabinet, which was submitted by her parliamentary group with the support of MPs from Vazrazhdane and Morality, Unity, Honour (MECh). A total of 48 MPs signed the motion. Parliament held a debate Wednesday on the motion against the Zhelyazkov Government over failure in the environment and water sector. 

According to Katincharova, Bulgaria is facing a growing crisis related to waste mismanagement that has escalated into an environmental disaster. She argued that while the issue of illegal landfills predates the current Government, its response has been marked by “arrogance, lack of administrative capacity, and efforts to conceal or downplay the scale of the problem,” which she described as bordering on criminal negligence.

"The country faces a critical mass of unresolved waste issues, now posing a systemic threat to public health, nature, and Bulgaria’s European reputation. This vote is necessary to break a governance model that violates fundamental rights, undermines the law, and abdicates its responsibility to protect the public interest,” she underscored.

Katincharova noted that Bulgarian and EU legislation strictly prohibit the dumping of waste at unauthorized sites, but many administrative sanctions remain unenforced due to poor regulatory coverage. She warned that the ineffectiveness of current legal and control frameworks renders the entire waste management law meaningless.

The MP pointed to Italy’s experience, where the European Court of Justice imposed an EUR 40 million fine and additional penalties of EUR 200,000 per illegal landfill. Katincharova noted that a similar sanction against Bulgaria would be “catastrophic for the national budget.”

Katincharova described findings from field inspections and documentation collected across all regions as showing persistent, structural institutional negligence. According to her, Illegal landfills, often containing industrial waste and located near water sources, have been identified nationwide, from Varna to Vidin and from Plovdiv to Pernik.