Miners and energy sector workers protest in Sofia

Another protest under the windows of power. Workers from the mining sector on September 19 began their protest march from Alexander Nevsky Square and will end in front of the Council of Ministers. The protest is under the slogan: "For a clear and secure energy future for Bulgaria" and is organised by the trade unions.

People want clarity on the future of energy policy and the limitation of harmful emissions in the sector. They are worried about their jobs in the coal mining regions of the country. The previous National Assembly decided on another renegotiation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, which the unions say is not happening.

The unions argue that a 40% reduction in carbon emissions by 2026 would lead to the mass closure of coal plants. They estimate that 20,000 people will be affected in redundancies and another 80,000 people employed in logistics will also lose their jobs.

"We do not agree with these territorial plans and their discussion, which took place in August and in Stara Zagora in September, there are only palliative things in them, abstractions, wishes and nothing clear. There are financial dependencies, there is a reduction in the workforce, and there is nowhere for people to go if this happens. That's why we don't agree, we don't accept them and we protest, and we want to sit at the negotiating table with the government," said Valentin Valchev, chairman of the miners' federation of the CITUB trade union.

"The territorial plans and the plans for a fair transition of Stara Zagora are written in an extremely restrictive way towards the Maritsa East complex, towards the workers in the complex, towards the whole region and there is practically no future for the complex and for the workers in it," said Deyan Dyakov, chairman of the CITUB in TPP Maritsa East 2.

Images by Dessislava Kulelieva