site.btaParliamentary Health Committee Chair Gives Seven Days to Regional Environment Inspectorate to Address Air Pollution in Veliko Tarnovo

GERB-UDF Deputy Floor Leader and Parliamentary Health Committee Chair Kostadin Angelov has given the Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water (RIEW) in Veliko Tarnovo a seven-day deadline to resolve the town’s air quality problems caused by emissions from the local industrial plant Kronospan Bulgaria. In a statement sent to the media on Tuesday, Angelov urged the regional environmental authority to take full responsibility in response to hundreds of citizen complaints about suffocation and polluted air.

Angelov stressed that no compromise can be made when it comes to the health of Veliko Tarnovo residents. According to him, business and investment are welcome in the city, but European environmental standards must be strictly observed, as “business cannot come before people’s health.”

The MP called on all institutions responsible for public health to stop hiding behind regulations and to act in defence of the citizens’ interests. He cited social media posts by residents reporting fine dust particles accumulating on laundry, balconies, and cars.

Angelov expressed skepticism about claims that Kronospan had invested BGN 20 million in filters, noting that, according to the company’s chief environmentalist, “everything coming from the chimneys is just steam.”

“I will not stop as long as even one person doubts the steam from Kronospan’s chimneys. I promise the new heads of RIEW and the Regional Health Inspectorate (RHI) that if they fail to protect the health and interests of Veliko Tarnovo residents, I will be equally uncompromising with them,” Angelov said.

On November 7, Health Minister Silvi Kirilov dismissed RHI-Veliko Tarnovo Director Evgenia Nedeva, and ordered an urgent investigation into all facts and circumstances related to air quality in the city. On the same date, an extraordinary comprehensive inspection of Kronospan began at the request of Veliko Tarnovo Mayor Daniel Panov.