site.btaResidents Protest in Sofia’s Mladost District Against Planned 22 Storey Building

Residents of Sofia’s Mladost district protested on Tuesday evening against plans to build a 22-storey building and what they described as overdevelopment in the area.

Demonstrators organized a march that briefly blocked traffic on Aleksandar Malinov Boulevard.

The protest was approved by Sofia Municipality, while the march and road blockade were spontaneous actions by demonstrators, protest organizer Georgi Dakashev said.

The protest was triggered by a decision of the Sofia Municipal Council approving the construction of a 22-storey building with nearly 60,000 square metres of floor area on municipal land in Mladost in exchange for compensation in equivalent properties.

The proposal was submitted by Mladost district mayor Ivaylo Kukurin and municipal councillor Dragomir Ivanov.

The report was backed by 34 councillors, while 23 voted against and four abstained.