Owners of an apartment block in the center of Burgas, which was not energy tested despite the Municipality’s promises that this would happen, contacted Iskra.bg. Their building is located on the corner between Georgi Kirkov and Aleksandrovska streets. It was built in 1963, is monolithic and has two entrances. The moment they heard about the „renovation“ program, residents started commenting on it and almost immediately decided they wanted to apply.
„We made the association with 100% agreement, which was very important. There was also 100% consent to participate in the program. The day we went to pick up the documents, the package was new and we were among the first to submit them. Our documents were thoroughly reviewed, we received various guidelines from the Municipality, for which I am grateful. Our documents were accepted without remark. We saw the condition that we had to do a technical passport and an energy audit, and we found a company accordingly. At one point, for which we were grateful, the Municipality decided to do the audit. We signed the agreement because we wanted to be compliant and we were afraid that there would be a problem later with the company we chose. Otherwise we were ready to pay,“, one of the owners told our journalist.
The agreement for the energy audit was signed at the Energy Office in early March this year. The owners were told that within a week the company that was to carry it out would call them as there was very little time for this to happen. They were warned that they would have to provide access to their properties.
„We were waiting. At one point, I felt that it was the end of May and no one had called me yet. I started calling. At the beginning of June, they answered me that the documents were not actually submitted to us and it was a big shock because we had done our work, everything was fine, with 100% agreement – they told me that it brings many points, it is very important, etc. They quickly explained to us that the company that was responsible for the energy survey did not fulfill the arrangements,“, the woman said, adding:
„We were all shocked, if only they had warned us. We would have called the first company, paid if we had to and more, but in time to have the energy audit done. What came out? The municipality unilaterally decided, without warning us, not to send us the documents. That means we are no longer involved.“
The victim reacted immediately and in early June she wrote a letter to the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works. She has received feedback stating that it is under consideration, and is currently awaiting a reply. She insists on two things:
- To give us the opportunity in a short time to do our own survey;
- To bring us the documents for participation.
„Let’s see what happens, because we are not to blame for the situation. At least they would have warned us. They directly say that we will not participate because we do not meet the conditions, but because of whom? I think there has to be a compromise. It’s insulting because no one sought us out. We would find a way to make it right. Some of the neighbors are elderly and have difficulty moving, and yet they managed to prepare everything that was required of them on time,“, the outraged woman commented.
At the same time, another woman wrote to the team of Iskra.bg with the following statement:
„We assigned the survey to a company chosen by us and paid for it with our own funds. When I presented the passports to the Municipality, they started creating problems for us – they did not work with companies not employed by the Municipality. They wanted to make corrections, but refused to communicate with the company. They played tricks on us for a whole month and finally they softened the tone and registered the passports. Serious problems followed.“
The Iskra.bg team also sought comment from the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works. We wanted to find out who exercises control over the Municipality of Burgas in such cases. They replied that no such mechanism has been established and clarified:
„These are relations between the Municipality and the block, because the Municipality has decided to allocate a budget and cover the funds for a technical passport. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has no role in this regard. We neither give our resource for these technical passports to have any control and any mechanisms of influence, nor have we demanded it from them. This is a decision of the Municipality and there are agreements with the owners.“
The press center of the regional ministry added that not all Bulgarian municipalities financed the technical passports and in many settlements the citizens paid for them themselves. From there, they also reported that during the first stage of the program for 100% grant funding, 2 times more projects were submitted than the available financial resource. According to them, this will also be the reason why many buildings will not qualify for 100% grant funding and will be redirected to the second stage.
„It doesn’t matter where the buildings are located and it’s uncertain if they would have received funding. There are criteria they have to meet. It’s not a renovation program, it’s not a social program. It’s spelled out by the European Union in such a way that it has to meet certain criteria and when the scoring starts it will be clear which blocks will be approved. Neither is it first in right, nor in time, nor most dilapidated and needy. There will certainly be other programs in the future. It is not clear whether they will be free of charge, with co-financing from the owners, with low-interest or interest-free loans – these documents will be necessary,“ the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works also said, adding that the introduction of mandatory European passports is again being discussed at European level.
