site.btaParliamentary Roundtable on Renewable Energy in Maritime Spaces Starts with Quarrel

A roundtable in Parliament on renewable energy in maritime spaces started with a quarrel here on Tuesday. The forum was co-organized by Ivaylo Mirchev MP of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), whose absence from the event had other participants protest, as he would be unable to answer any of their questions regarding a draft bill on the matter.

Mirchev and the other co-sponsors of the bill, MPs of GERB-UDF, CC-DB, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and There Is Such a People, were absent from the meeting. The roundtable moderator, Alexander Simidchiev MP of CC-DB, said that Mirchev had valid reasons to be absent. Borislav Gutsanov of the Bulgarian Socialist Party retorted that the absence was a sign of disrespect.

The purpose of the roundtable is to get feedback, Simidchiev said. He said that while he is not an energy expert, he can give competent answers about the bill's potential impact on human health and the environment.

The draft law on renewable energy in the maritime spaces was adopted on first reading in Parliament on January 25, however, it was the subject of arguments. GERB-UDF MP Luben Dilov expressed concern at the time that there is hardly an MP born in a sea town, who would support the bill in its current form.

The texts regulate the legal and administrative path and principles for the planning, construction, operation and decommissioning of power plants in Bulgaria's maritime spaces.