site.btaLandowner in Western Coal Town Bars Non-Mining Employees from Work

Over 200 people held a rally in Bobov Dol on Saturday to protest against a local landowner who denies workers access to several enterprises. The owner of the Mag company, which makes components and half-finished products for the heavy industry, keeps employees of other firms from getting to their workplaces, which are on a piece of land that he bought recently from the trustee in bankruptcy of a coal mining operation.

The problem dates back four months, protesters said. They complained that not a single new job has been created in this traditional coal mining area in 10 years, and the town is fading. The controversial landowner apparently wants to get the non-mining enterprises closed, people said.

BTA learned more about the case from Rumen Shismanov, whose company in Bobov Dol manufactures custom-made furniture, and Valeri Dimitrov, who owns a local shoe making business.

Dimitrov said his shoe factory was set up in 1993 at the request of the mayor to give coal miners an employment alternative. Shishmanov said his family business was established in 2008.

The two said they own the buildings which house their businesses. Two years ago, the trustee in bankruptcy of the Bobov Dol Mine sold the other buildings in the area without notifying the landowners. Four months ago, the new landowner cut off the workers' access to Shishmanov's and Dimitrov's enterprises. He even kept employees of the electricity distribution company from reaching the fuse boxes at one of the sites, which has been left without electricity for four months for unknown reasons.

Workers of the two companies said the new landowner even took the liberty of putting up wire fences to keep them away from their workplaces. Shishmanov noted: "We were told we should pay rent if we want to reach our workplaces. They demand BGN 840 per month. Under the law, we are free to access our private property."

"As we cannot drive to the site, we use wheelbarrows to carry loads of hundreds of kilos to move our products out of the factory," Dimitrov added.

The landowner, Elin Karipov, was unavailable for comment.

The organizers of the rally said they planned to stage it two weeks ago, but Bobov Dol Mayor Elza Velichkova promised assistance to make the companies' premises accessible. Workers said the Regional Prosecution Office in Dupnitsa ordered that employees should be given access to the enterprises, but the next day the order was invalidated by the District Prosecution Office in Kyustendil.

"Karipov's company does not even pay taxes to the municipality," a protester said. Mayor Velichkova confirmed the statement, saying that Karipov owes the municipality thousands of leva, and the local administration has filed lawsuits against him.

The protest rally was supported by MP Nikolai Zlatarski of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning. "I will press the issue from the National Assembly rostrum," Zlatarski said. He vowed to work for an urgent solution to the problem. "Is this how we are going to absorb money under the Just Transition in the coal areas – by restricting the jobs provided by other, different businesses?" he wondered.