site.btaMan Sues Energy Ministry for Forcing Him to Move Out for Coal Mines’ Expansion

Petar Tanev is suing the Bulgarian Energy Ministry for forcing him to leave his home village Beli Bryag so that a planned expansion of the Maritsa East coal mines could go ahead, Za Zemyata reported on its website. The environmental organization is supporting the man in his legal battle.

Tenev is among the last remaining land owners in the doomed village in Radnevo Municipality (Southeastern Bulgaria). Beli Bryag is due to disappear from the map in a long-contemplated enlargement of the open-cast coal mining operation.

The mines are property of the wholly State-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding, in which the State exercises the powers of sole owner of the capital. 

The planned expansion of Maritsa East has been postponed several times.

People in Beli Brayg and the nearby Troyanovo were ordered to surrender their land in compulsory purchase deals with the mines by December 31, 2023. Failing this, they would be subject to forcible eviction.

Close to 99% of the land has already been acquired by the mines, and the remaining 30 residents or so are paying rent to the company for the estate they previously owned. 

Before the evictions, Beli Bryag had a population of some 500, Za Zemyata says.

According to a 2018 plan for the mines' expansion, that is available on the website of the Maritsa East mines, Beli Bryag had 148 registered residents in 69 households in 2016, and the number of households was down to 49 in 2017.

Tenev hopes that the lawsuit against the Energy Ministry would right the wrong after decades of uncertainty, insecurity, delays and revisions of the evictions plan.

He is suing the Ministry for material and non-material damage caused by the Ministry's acts, omissions, and failure to exercise control. 

The case is tried by the Stara Zagora Administrative Court. The first hearing was held on April 3, 2024 and the next one is scheduled for June.

Za Zemyata has launched a petition to support the demand for fair compensations for the people of Beli Bryag and Troyanovo.

The environmentalist organization argues that the world is abandoning coal and it is not clear whether any coal will be mined in the area where Beli Bryag still stands. "This has been clear for years, and the Energy Ministry should have taken its into account and should have adjusted its plans so as to safeguard local people's interests," said Za Zemyata Energy and Climate Coordinator Radostina Slavkova. 

Bulgaria is planning a coal phase-out as part of its EU Green Deal commitments.