site.btaMiners Go on Strike after Ministry Closes Thermal Power Plant Unit

Bobov Dol, Western Bulgaria, August 29 (BTA) - Miners at the Bobov dol mines in a token protest on Friday morning went underground but refused to work because of unpaid July wages. The Bulgarian National Radio reported that the miners also protested a decision by the Environment Ministry to close one of the units of the Bobov Dol thermal power plant, which will reduce coal supplies.

The Ministry decided to close the unit because it doesn't meet environmental requirements.

The Bobov Dol mines is the primary supplier for the thermal power plant of the same name and the mines' managers have warned that the reduced coal output will cause technological problems in the closed-pit mines where operation is round- the-clock and every stop is harmful to the machinery, facilities, and galleries. Also, this poses hazards to the life and health of miners.

On Friday, the Bobov Dol thermal power plant cut coal supplies by 50 per cent, after the Energy System Operator limited its operation. The facility will purchase 42,495 tonnes of coal down from the current 84,990 tonnes, Bobov Dol Mines manager Krassimir Chavraganski told BTA.

Currently, the mines employ some 2,200 people. Chavraganski said that they will have to go from six working days to five and possibly let people on leave, voicing hope that layoffs will be avoided.

In a letter Friday to the ministers of economy and environment, the Bobov Dol mines say that a hiatus will disrupt the round-the-clock operation of the mines which will create prerequisites for fires in the galleries. The mines say that the electricity produced by the Bobov Dol thermal power plant is several times cheaper than that put out by two other thermal power plants, Marista East-1 and Maritsa East-3, and RES facilities. However, since July 1 the plant has been forced to sell its power on the free market. Also, the National Electric Company owes the plant 5 million leva for the electricity produced in the first half of 2014, which is disrupting payments
to workers, business partners and suppliers.

The Bobov Dol mines and the Bobov Dol thermal power plant through various companies are linked to one owner, Hristo Kovachki, who is also associated with LIDER, a party within the Bulgaria without Censorship coalition.