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Ukraine's Security Service Says It 'Neutralized' Russian Spy Network In South [1]
["Rfe Rl'S Ukrainian Service"]
Date: 2023-10-03 10:33:28+00:00
Bulgarian energy workers are meeting Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov and leaders of political parties for negotiations on the government's plans to transition to cleaner energy that triggered protests over fears of the effects the move would have on the mining sector.
The October 3 meeting in parliament in Sofia is the first in-person negotiation between the protesting energy workers and the government since the most recent wave of protests started on September 29. Previously the demonstrators had declined invitations from Denkov for talks.
The protests were sparked by the adoption of plans for a green transition of the coal-mining regions Stara Zagora, Pernik, and Kustendil.
Miners and energy workers disagree with the plans and want the government to withdraw them, blocking key roads in Bulgaria for fifth day on October 3 to highlight their concerns.
The adoption of the plans was a condition for the European Commission to allocate 1.2 billion euros ($1.27 billion) in funds that would be used for the green transformation of the regions and the creation of new jobs for coal workers.
The plans must include a timetable for reducing the capacities of coal-burning power plants in order to be approved by the European Commission.
Denkov has said that the plans clearly stated the government would not close coal-burning plants in Bulgaria before 2038. He has said, however, that "gradually some of them will drop out of the energy system because it will not be economically possible for them to function anymore."
Denkov said this was why it's important to "create mechanisms by which people who have the necessary qualifications can find employment in the same region."
The government says that coal power has no future because of the increasing cost of maintaining it. In 2023 the state-owned coal mines and coal-burning power plant posted a deep loss due to reduced sales, and expectations are that such losses will grow in the future.
Bulgaria is already late in submitting the territorial plans for the transition of the three coal regions and lost almost 100 million euros ($106 million) for 2022 in funds that would have come from the EU.
The deadline for the government to send its plans to Brussels was the end of September or it would lose another 800 million euros earmarked for 2023.
Energy Minister Rumen Radev said on September 30 that Bulgaria's plans had been sent to Brussels. Prior to that move, Bulgaria had been the only EU member state not to send its plan.
Miners and energy workers met the decision to submit the plan with protests, although earlier in September they held negotiations with the government and agreed on measures to protect workers.
Among those measures is the creation of a state enterprise to which all those currently working for the state-owned mines and coal power plants would be reassigned.
The government also agreed to pay compensation totaling 36 months of salary for energy workers who decide to quit.
The demonstrations, however, have continued with the protesters saying that they want the plans to be reworked to better reflect their demands.
These include the adoption of a mechanism for state aid for the coal-burning plants to guarantee that they would continue to operate until 2038, dropping the country's commitment to reduce carbon emissions from coal power plants by 40 percent by 2026 and adoption of long-term energy strategy.
Experts quoted by Bulgarian media say that most of the demands are either already fulfilled or impossible to fulfill.
The country previously was among the last to submit its Recovery and Resilience Plan -- another European mechanism that provides funding for a transition to renewable energy. But this funding is now blocked following a parliament decision in December 2022 demanding that the government renegotiate Bulgaria's commitment to reduce carbon emissions from coal power plants by 40 percent by 2026.
The European Union aims to be climate-neutral -- meaning an economy with net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions -- by 2050. The bloc has allocated billions of euros in funding for its member states to fulfill this objective.
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[1] Url:
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-sbu-russian-spy-network/32620980.html
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