There is an agreement between the protesting energy workers and the government
We have a final agreement between the protesting energy workers and miners and the government, Prime Minister Acad. Nikolai Denkov said on October 3. Tomorrow the agreement enters the Parliament for approval.
"We have restarted the process, which stopped on 30 September when we were ready to discuss an agreement, but it didn't happen then. The protests started, 6 points were formulated yesterday by the protesters and today we started with them. We have a final agreement that has been signed by the main participants in this discussion, negotiations, whatever you want to call it. The important thing is that this is the beginning of a much more detailed discussion. The signatures are under seven points. The first two are written more expertly, because tomorrow these seven points will be submitted to the National Assembly and will be voted on as a parliamentary decision. So that it is clear that the commitment is not only of the government but also of the parties that support this government," the prime minister said.
The Prime Minister stressed that the state will not close any power plants.
"The first two points mean that the state will not administratively close any plants that are coal-fired, like power plants. These plants, whether they are state-owned or private, are free to operate and the market will decide whether they stay."
Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov held a seven-hour meeting in Parliament with representatives of the protesting energy workers and miners. The protests have been going on for five days now, over disagreements with the territorial just transition plans for the coal regions of Stara Zagora, Kyustendil and Pernik.
The protesting miners and energy workers have 6 demands, which were presented yesterday by "Podkrepa" trade union. The first of these is to provide a capacity mechanism for coal-fired power plants as critical infrastructure for the country's energy system. They also insisted on the immediate implementation of the National Assembly decisions of 31 January 2020 and 12 January 2023.
What are the points of disagreement between the protesting energy workers and the government?
