Lovech Region Residents to Protest After 5 Days of Electricity Problems

Jerusalem, 30 December, 2024 (TPS-IL) -- Lovech (BTA) – Mayors and residents of Bulgaria’s Lovech region will protest on the Sofia-Varna road on Monday due to five days of ongoing electricity problems, the mayor of the village of Radyuvene, Ignat Ignev, told BTA. They will close the main road at the “Ablanitsa” road junction for one hour.

The power disruptions began when heavy snow caused trees to collapse on power lines around the country.

Over 98% of the localized damage to facilities nationwide have already been repaired, Energo Pro announced on its official website and noted that the emergency teams of ERP North will continue to restore power supply to dozens of villages in the Gabrovo Balkan, Targovishte and Gorna Oryahovitsa regions.

Despite the additional equipment provided, some of the affected power lines are located in rugged terrain and access to them is only possible on foot. According to the company, in addition to power lines broken by wet snow and icing, there are also collapsed reinforced concrete and iron lattice poles, the replacement of which requires more technological time.

The protest is organized by the Association of Mayors and Deputy Mayors of the Settlements in the Municipality of Lovech “Osam 2004”, whose chairman is Ignev. The protest will be from 10:00 to 11:00.

He said that minutes ago, power supply was restored in Raduvene, but dozens of households in the municipality are still without electricity for the fifth day. “We are organizing the protest because the inaction of the EPRs has led to this critical situation. We want to be heard more. We live in a member state of the European Union, five days without electricity is unacceptable – people are in distress. These are elderly people with defrosted refrigerators, with non-working refrigerators, families with small children who do not have basic living conditions,” commented Ignat Ignev.

According to him, it is not the guys on the ground who are to blame, but the management of the companies. “Yesterday in my village, we were removing the Electrohold equipment with private pickup trucks and volunteers, as they have worn tires. They don’t invest in tires to be able to move in hard-to-reach terrain. The guys walk on foot, carry ladders and tools for more than a kilometer. This problem occurs every year with the first snow,” he added.

The Mayor of Lovech, Stratsimir Petkov, told BTA that he will support tomorrow’s protest.

Donka Mihaylova, mayor of Troyan, announced that in the main part of the municipality, on certain streets and neighborhoods, difficulties in electricity supply continue.