Protesting miners and energy workers block traffic on Struma motorway

Dozens of cars driven by the employees of the Thermal Power Plant (TPP) and Bobov Dol mines (Kyustendil distict, Western Bulgaria) went on a protest march along Struma motorway on September 29. They were accompanied by police patrols to control traffic on the road..

The protesting employees closed Struma motorway for traffic in the area of the Blatino tunnel, in the direction of Blagoevgrad. Earlier, some of the participants in the protest blocked traffic on the motorway in the direction of Sofia.

Police and gendarmerie directed the traffic from Blagoevgrad to Sofia into an alternative route E-79. A 5-kilometer long queue on Struma motorway has formed. Around 9.30 a.m., the motorway was re-opened to traffic in direction to Sofia.

Struma motorway remained blocked to traffic only in the direction of Blagoevgrad.

The reason for the dissatisfaction of miners and energy workers is the unkept promise of the state for the TPPs to stop work not in 2026, but in 2038, as was agreed at the latest negotiations.

The issue of coal plants and mines in the region is becoming more complicated by the day. This ambiguity is the reason for thousands of people staging a protest today on the area's main roads and motorways.

CITUB trade union said earlier in September that 100,000 people will be out of work if Bulgaria does not renegotiate carbon reduction terms with the EC.

"People want to defend their right to keep their jobs. If until yesterday we were talking about the closure of the TPP "Bobov Dol", which is set in the Territorial Plans until 2026, today the government is talking about the reduction of capacity, which is the same thing said in a slightly different way. People are here because there is no alternative employment, because in the Territorial Plans only small and medium-sized enterprises are eligible, which in reality cannot provide sustainable employment for all these people," said Yordanka Germanova, "Podkrepa" trade union.

"Those from TPP Bobov Dol directly affected are about 1,600 people who will lose their jobs. However, their families and those employed in logistics will also be affected, so we are talking about 10,000 people. We announce an indefinite protest until our demands are met," said Ivaylo Dimitrov, Trade Union "Podkrepa" - TPP "Bobov Dol".

The protesters fear that if the government does not take adequate action, the area will become depopulated.