„Dobrotich Wind“ is a large-scale project worth BGN 1.2 billion. Financing is entirely private through loans from European banks. It envisages the construction of a wind farm for the production of renewable energy, which should be located in the Varna region, on the territory of the municipalities of Vetrino and Valchi dol. The aim of the project is to provide electricity for 440,000 households. Project manager Bilyana Petrova explained to Iskra.bg that it will be sold entirely on the free market and will not benefit from any state preferences.
The project has passed the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure. It is for this reason that the large international company CWP Europe stops at it. Petrova emphasized that there is no self-respecting European bank that would agree to provide financing for a project with even a minimal risk to the environment. Despite the resulting EIA, local and international experts were hired to conduct their own additional studies on the impact of wind turbines on birds. Their definitive conclusion is that the project will in no way endanger the local flora and fauna, Petrova emphasized.
“One of the biggest advantages of Dobrotich Wind as a project is that it is an old project that has undergone an EIA procedure. This procedure has been subject to review, non-governmental organizations have taken a stand, including there has been a court procedure. That is, the environmental part of this project has been very well checked and protected. This is one of the important things that interests a foreign investor. Because when financing is used from a European bank, most often the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, there the environmental aspects are leading”, Bilyana Petrova emphasized to Iskra.bg.
She explained that the main pushback they face against the wind park project in Vetrino and Valchi Dol is from the „Historical Park“. But according to her, the wind farm will be located about 10-12 kilometers from it, and therefore the two projects should not be in conflict with each other. However, the creator of the „Historical Park“ Ivelin Mihailov is of the exact opposite opinion. He explained to Iskra.bg:
“When a municipality or a country chooses a path to develop, it usually follows that path. There are huge scientific works by notable economists, such as Michael Porter, who once made a competitive strategy for Bulgaria. This means that when a region takes one path of development, we cannot bring in investors who would displace the old investors, because what will happen is economic decline and depopulation of the respective region. And here we have something similar. Some time ago, a strategy was adopted in the municipality that it will be developed as a tourist destination and for the development of animal husbandry and to make a region that will be good for people to live. And at some point, another investor appears, whose project excludes the old projects. Which means what? According to the latest sample, Sofia-city has decreased by 19,300 people since 2019. And the Municipality of Vetrino, and in particular the village of Neophyt Rilski, has a demographic boom – an increase in the population, the birth rate and people who are of Bulgarian origin with 4-5 children each – something that does not exist in any region of Bulgaria.”
Mihailov emphasized that the „Dobrotich Wind“ project for the construction of a wind park was decided to enter much later – in 2021-2022. For him, he created an industrial zone in a place that was being urbanized. And people decided to live in the countryside because of the view and nature.
“People, choosing nature, don’t want to see industrialization and fins!”, he is emphatic.
According to Mihailov, there is industrial, visual and noise pollution for people. The same applies to animals, because the noise bothers them and they get scared. When asked by Iskra.bg whether such wind farms pose a risk to the environment, and in particular this particular project, he answered:
“Of course. There are protected birds in the area – mallard ducks and the griffon vulture, which is an Egyptian vulture. These birds are migratory and they stop inhabiting this area. The quail population has sharply decreased after the construction of a wind park in Suvorovo, which fundamentally changes the entire ecosystem. We also have records of people who we have made and who say how it changes. We haven’t shown them now. We’ll show them a little later. These are people from Suvorovo who are afraid of them because they say that the owners of the fins are the mutts who threaten them. Personally, I have threats to my life that blood will be shed if the project is not implemented. They call me to the highest posts. We have political and administrative pressure. I’m not going to say where it is, because that just adds to my problems, which I already have.”
“We are second-rate people who need a foreign company, a foreign company, notice, which should put its fins on, drive us out, and then the whole of Bulgaria will need expensive electricity – as expensive as the market has led”, Mihailov said.
When asked by Iskra.bg how he will comment on the allegations that have appeared, that by declaring against the Dobrotich Wind project, he is protecting his private interest, Mihailov answered:
“If I have a personal private interest and I am an engine for the development of the municipality. If I have attracted people so that the area can be revived – all the media write about the departure of people from Bulgaria, and we have over 300 people who have returned from abroad and settled in Vetrino Municipality because of the things we do. And if I am the person who manages this process by creating goods, is not my private interest the same as that of the Municipality?”
After the actions against the „Historical Park“ project, organized protests and submitted signature, the Municipal Council of Vetrino makes a decision, which not only rejects „Dobrotich Wind“ and the investor, but prohibits the development of such a business on the territory of the Municipality. The imposed moratorium is causing serious legal disputes, as is the signature itself. Bilyana Petrova told Iskra.bg that of the 1,900 signatures submitted, more than 680 were declared invalid by GRAO, because, according to her, there were names and data of people who were in prison or who, at the time of its collection, were abroad. And as for the moratorium itself, according to her, it contradicts a number of rules, and that is why they are challenging it in court:
“This made us even then, even though we did not have the signature, to question this signature, and our main argument is that renewable energy is a matter of national policy, which is enshrined in a number of international treaties signed by Bulgaria. In such a local initiative, it cannot change state policy. Due to this fact, immediately after this signature was approved by the Municipal Council-Vetrino under unprecedented pressure – each of the meetings of the Municipal Council were accompanied by many people who stood, shouted and shouted in front of the Municipality and entered the meetings – all those employees of „Historical Park“. This represents a serious psychological pressure on the municipal councilors themselves. And that is why, after the approval, we filed a lawsuit in the Administrative Court in Varna, disputing the competence of the Municipal Council to make such a decision. In parallel with us, such a claim was filed by the Varna Regional Government. There, in addition to the issue of competence, the regional governor also touches on the fact that the Municipality of Vetrino has strategies and policies that are in favor of renewable energy.”
Petrova expressed hope that the court will make a decision on the matter by the end of the year. It remains to be seen what it will be and what the actions of the local authorities will be after that.
At the same time, Mihailov is categorical:
“After the park comes, we will be gone!”
Regarding the moratorium, he indicated that it would not hold up in court and it was a temporary solution. Therefore, a referendum would be organized, which, according to him, was the fairest decision. It would have been initiated by a company that is for the protection of the environment, but Mihailov did not want to announce who he was, so as not to put pressure on them.
