Protest after 6 days without electricity: mayors and local residents blocked the road Sofia - Varna

Six days into the power crisis, electricity has been restored in most areas, but there are still regions where repairs are ongoing.

In Troyan region, 16 villages remain partially without electricity, and in Lovech region, 12 settlements are still without power.

Residents of villages in the Lovech region protested today, December 30.

Together with the local authorities, they blocked traffic for an hour at the Ablanitsa road junction, on the Sofia-Varna road, intermittently allowing vehicles to pass.

The mayor of Lovech announced that they will file a collective lawsuit against the electricity distribution company and will also seek compensation from the state.

Their demands include compensation for affected households and increased investments in the power distribution network.

The protest was organized by the Association of Mayors and Deputy Mayors of settlements in the Lovech Municipality.

"We are here to protest because people are loyal payers, they pay their bills every month, and with just one snowstorm, they’ve been without power for five days," said Mariana Hitova, mayor of Doyrentsi village, Lovech municipality.

"With two small children, relying on electric heating, we are freezing; you can't even take a bath, it’s just unacceptable," commented Nazif Nazifov.

"We've been in communication with the electricity distribution company since September about clearing power line corridors and investing in the network, but apparently, these measures are insufficient. The main problems are with the 20-kilovolt power lines, where outages were not fixed for three days. We faced repeated issues with fallen trees causing new outages after initial repairs," added Stratsimir Petkov, mayor of Lovech.

"The wires are really old; they shouldn't just be patched up. They came, patched them up, but with the next snowfall, I'm convinced they'll be torn again," said Radoslav Ganchev, mayor of Aleksandrovo village, Lovech municipality.