site.btaResidents of Northeastern Bulgaria Demand National Referendum on Construction of Wind Power Plants on Agricultural Land

Residents from the regions of Dobrich, Silistra, Shumen and Varna gathered on Thursday in front of the Regional Environment and Water Inspectorate in Varna to demand a national referendum on whether wind farms and solar power plants should be constructed on agricultural land.

Vladimir Kalchev, chair of the White Swallow National Civil Initiative, told the media that the concrete reason for the protest is the investment intentions in ​​the village of Slaveevo, Dobrich Region, where a meeting of an expert council is coming up, which will assess the environmental impact of the project. He noted that the lands in Slaveevo, on which the construction of wind farms is planned, are entirely agricultural and arable. He pointed out that the fields could be leased for 25-30 years, which would make it unclear who would remove the concrete and wind farms when the term expires.

The residents commented that they are not against green energy and renewables, but against building them on fertile agricultural land. Georgi Ganev from the village of Slaveevo added that all residents have signed a petition that they are against the wind farm in the village. He said that there are many wind farms in the area around Kavarna, which in no way raised the standard of living in the town and the surrounding villages.

Kalchev said that an open letter will be sent to the President, the Prime Minister and the Chair of the National Assembly, in which the arguments for the need for a referendum are stated. He emphasized that according to the law on renewable sources, the construction of wind farms and solar power plants must be done on uncultivable and compromised soils. Very often this requirement is circumvented, Kalchev stressed, when investors submit their requests to the Municipal Councils, who make their decisions according to the law for land use and allow changes to the detailed development plans of the land to be made.