site.btaPrime Minister Sees No Way of Providing BGN 38 Mln as Requested by Karlovo Mayor after 2022 Floods

Caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev warned on Wednesday that mayors of settlements around Karlovo, Central Bulgaria cannot expect the national government to give them the BGN 38 million requested by Karlovo Mayor Emil Kabaivanov to mitigate the effects of devastating floods that hit the area in September 2022.

Such aid can become available based on expenses already incurred at the local level. So far, the mayors have reported BGN 24 million in expenses, and the reports did not reach Sofia until Tuesday.

Speaking to journalists in the Danubian town of Kozloduy, Glavchev explained: "The regional governor is supposed to express an opinion, and then the inter-agency commission will meet to make a feasible allocation within the limits of the state budget. There is no way that the allocation could amount to BGN 38 million."

The Prime Minister recalled that he talked personally with the mayors in the area about a month ago, and he is familiar with the problem.

Meanwhile, people from the Karlovo area blocked the Sub-Balkan Highway and the approaches to the Troyan-Karnare Pass as a warning action.

Karlovo Mayor Kabaivanov told BTA that "all cumbersome procedures" were completed a year ago without any relaxation of the rules for selecting project designers, coordinating the projects, obtaining permission for construction and choosing contractors, and contracts were signed. "Unfortunately, we received only 20% of the BGN 75 million needed for complete remediation of the consequences of the floods," he said. The mayor warned that unless the inter-agency commission takes measures by June 12, indefinite protests will be held.