There will not be a local referendum in connection with the investment intention for the expansion of the Bachinovo park and the renovation of the water park in Blagoevgrad, as the required number of signatures has not been collected.

This was announced at a briefing today by the Chairman of the Municipal Council - Blagoevgrad Radoslav Taskov. 

The topic of the investment intention, which will be realized by taking on a long-term debt from the Fund for Sustainable Cities, with which the municipality will renovate and expand the water park in the city and the suburban park "Bachinovo", was raised a year ago with a number of public discussions, followed by a vote in the Municipal council, which rejected the idea and a second vote in September, when councilors accepted it. 

The discussion in September was accompanied by a civil protest, and the decision of the municipal councilors was returned and subsequently appealed by the regional governor of Blagoevgrad.

In the fall, an initiative committee launched an initiative to convene a local referendum with the question "Do you approve of the decision of the Regional Municipality of Blagoevgrad to assume long-term debt for the realization of the investment intention Scapto Therme Aqua Bachinovo".

Ukrainian refugees cleaned "Bachinovo" park in Blagoevgrad as a sign of appreciation

The signatures collected and submitted to the office of the ObS - Blagoevgrad are a little over 12 thousand.

They have been sent to the Main Directorate "Civil Registration and Administrative Services" for confirmation of the required number of signatures, and the results of the verification show that the correct entries are 8,589, said the chairman of the Civil Registration and Administrative Service, Radoslav Taskov, today.

There are 3,486 incorrect records, including 1,413 with incorrect personal identification number data;

incomplete and wrong names are 1140;

the repeated entries in the list are 463. The list also includes 39 deceased persons, as well as 32 who are not Bulgarian citizens. 

The total number of persons with voting rights who have a permanent address on the territory of the municipality as of September 21, 2022, is 93,653, which means that the signature for calling a referendum does not meet the condition that 10 percent of those entitled to have joined it per voice or 9365 persons, Taskov also said. 

According to him, if it had been implemented, this referendum would have cost the municipality at least 350 thousand BGN.

Separately, the topic is already in the judicial phase, and the municipality withdrew its intention to build the project with long-term debt.

According to Taskov, local government consultation with the people is important when making decisions, but the local government should be allowed to use all the opportunities that modern times provide, so that the procedure is facilitated and not at the expense of funds from the budget provided for for "vital feathers". 

After the disclosure of the data, the mayor of Blagoevgrad Ilko Stoyanov commented at a briefing on the result of the signature for calling a referendum.

He announced that he will refer the Commission for the Protection of Personal Data and the Prosecutor's Office, in connection with the found incorrect entries in the collected signature.

For BTA, Metodi Baikushev - a member of the initiative committee for signature collection, commented that the presence of invalid signatures was expected.

"This happens with all the signatures that are collected in Bulgaria, both for local referendums and for national ones and for party registrations, there are usually between 15 and 25 percent invalid signatures," Baikushev said, adding that there are people , who are worried about writing their details.

According to him, the collected signatures represent more than 10 percent of the citizens of Blagoevgrad who have the right to vote, considering the last population census, according to which the inhabitants of Blagoevgrad are less than 70 thousand people.

Blagoevgrad