site.btaResidents of Dimitrovgrad Protest for Cleaner Air

Dozens of Dimitrovgrad residents Sunday gathered for a protest march with demands for overcoming the systematic air pollution of their town.

From the central part of the town, the protest march blocked traffic on the main road to Stara Zagora for an hour. The participants protested against the frequent readings of excessive values ​​​​of sulfur dioxide, metal dust and other hazardous substances in the air in Dimitrovgrad. The protesters claim the Maritsa 3 Thermal Power Plant (TPP) is the main polluter of the air.

According to data from the Regional Environment and Water Inspectorate in Haskovo, 105 inspections have been carried out at the TPP since 2022, with 119 prescriptions and punitive decrees issued for violations of environmental legislation, totalling BGN 340,000 in damages. In mid-March, the inspectorate announced that two sanctions were imposed on the TPP in February 2025 alone.

Dimitrovgrad Mayor Ivo Dimov joined the protest, emphasizing that the goal is for the general public of Dimitrovgrad to live in better conditions and breathe cleaner air. He said he joined the protest in a personal capacity, as a resident of Dimitrovgrad. Dimov stressed he had been assured by the plant's management that the Maritsa 3 TPP had ceased operating and that repairs worth about BGN 10 million would begin as soon as next week. 

The organizers of the protests was the Breathe, Dimitrovgrad Civil Association.