PM convened an emergency meeting with ministers and chiefs of services about the situation in the country caused by the severe weather conditions

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister called an emergency meeting in the Council of Ministers on November 26, with the participation of ministers, heads of services and district governors because of the critical situation across the country caused by the harsh weather conditions.

Harsh winter conditions cause traffic chaos, power cuts in hundreds of settlements in north-eastern Bulgaria

Adverse winter weather caused heavy snowfalls, which in places exceeded 3 times the norm for the season, accompanied by strong winds., PM Denkov said after the meetings which was attended by the Ministers of Energy, Defence and Interior, as well as the heads of the fire fighting department and emergency safety, the Road Infrastructure Agency. There were many power outages in the country due to failures of high voltage substations. Fallen branches on the lines led to the breakdowns in populated areas. The government is in constant touch with the district governors. It is ready to respond to critical situations.

Heavy snow and high winds leave more than half a million households in Bulgaria without electricity

In some places in the country, the snow cover was more than 40 centimetres around midday. This means we have a weather situation that is complicated and combined with the winds and the wet snow is leading to breakdowns that need time to be repaired. That should be clear and we have been doing everything since the other day to coordinate efforts and try to get them fixed as quickly as possible. Over 100 people were rescued from snow traps during the night thanks to the efforts of various institutions," the Prime Minister said.

Difficult travel conditions across Bulgaria due to heavy snowfall

The Prime Minister explained the measures being taken.

"Roads continue to be cleared from the snow, but there are several areas where this is extremely difficult because the snowfall continues, combined with strong winds," Denkov clarified.

"The fire fighting service is ready to help wherever reports are received. All emergency teams have been mobilised. If there is a need for additional support, I expect district governors to submit information."

Learning process in schools in the worst affected districts also remains in question.

"All regional education departments should urgently send information to the Ministry of Education on whether a switch to e-learning is envisaged or whether classes will not be possible to be held where the internet is not available," Denkov added.

The army is ready to get involved, the Defence Minister said.

"The Bulgarian army keeps 24 units on standby to act in an event such as the one we are witnessing now and acts at the request of the chairmen of crisis management teams. This morning, around 4.20, I received a call from the District Governor of Veliko Tarnovo and gave permission to teams from the National Defence University to join the cleaning activities," said Todor Tagarev, Minister of Defence.

The Energy Minister said the biggest problems are with electricity supply in northern Bulgaria. 8 breakdowns in substations were repaired within the day. However, work is still underway on the grid outages.

"Some of the areas with power outages are difficult to access," Energy Minister, Rumen Radev, said.

There, besides the problem of fallen poles, most of the power lines have broken cables as a result of fallen branches.

Later today, Minister Radev and the Electricity System Operator chief summed up the situation.

"As at 5 p.m., practically all the problems in the high-voltage network have been eliminated from the more than 20 substations directly affected," Minister of Energy said.

The situation with medium and low voltage networks is severe. The situation there is still complicated. Emergency teams are continuing their work. In the area where Electrodistribution Grid West operates, more than 778 settlements are currently without electricity.

In the area of Electricity Distribution South, 55 settlements are without electricity - that is over 300,000 households.

"In the northern part of this region the situation is the most complicated - these are Stara Zagora, Sliven, Haskovo, settlements near Plovdiv and Smolyan," the Minister explained.

196,000 customers of Electrodistribution Grid West in 779 settlements in North-Eastern Bulgaria are also without electricity.

The situation in the country and the government's actions have given MRF cause to criticise the cabinet.

"People expect the executive to be there for them. Snow clearing cannot be done online," Delyan Peevski of MRF said. Denkov replied to him.

"I don't know how Mr Peevski sees the role of the Prime Minister. I urge him, if he wants to, to go out with a snow plough, with a shovel, with whatever he wants and clear the snow. The role of the institutions is to see where there is a need for additional support and that additional support should be provided," the Prime Minister said.

The response of the chairman of the MRF group was not delayed:

"If I am nominated for Prime Minister, I will not run away from responsibility if I was. I can handle it," Peevski said.

Bulgarian Socialist Party also joined in the criticism towards the government with a social media post by the deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Group, Georgi Svilensky.

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