A huge multi-party majority in the parliament decided that Bulgaria should start renegotiation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan in the part about reducing carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants, which should be left in operation until 2038.

GERB's proposal was approved on Thursday with 187 votes "for", two "against" from "We continue the change" and 9 "abstentions" from PP and "Democratic Bulgaria

"Democratic Bulgaria" is a centrist-right political association, composed of". This is how the conversation on the air of "Darik" with Borislav Sandov began.

He graduated from Sofia University "St.

Kliment Ohridski", specialty "Geography", and is a deputy from the group of "Democratic Bulgaria

"Democratic Bulgaria" is a center-right political association, composed of" and part of the "Green Movement".

The first question to Sandov was related to his comment, in which he called the "coal coalition" those who voted positively for the decision of the Bulgarian National Assembly to start renegotiation of the Recovery and Sustainability Plan.

The idea of ​​a "Coal Coalition" could have been truly formed if the mandate had been given to Stefan Yanev, the guest said.

Such large support is a product of parties' reluctance to make unpopular decisions before elections.

That is why there is such unanimity specifically for this type of voting, he added. 

However, this decision is certainly a mistake, continued Sandov.

According to him, it is illegal because the National Assembly cannot make such decisions, and the Council of Ministers cannot implement them.

Minister Nikola Stoyanov: Closing the coal plants means deindustrialization of the country

According to him, the limitation of emissions must be achieved and such a renegotiation must always go through somewhere. 

Sandov said that people should know that "there were two main reasons why we were late with the plan. These are the reluctance of the state to make two reforms - judicial and one for decarbonization. If a new attempt is made to open the plan, it will cost the state a lot of funds, which will not be able to be absorbed", noted the guest.

The total amount that can be lost if Bulgaria does not fulfill its commitments is approximately 10 billion.

Let's not forget that we are talking about decisions that will not close the loopholes tomorrow, Sandov began on the topic.

"It is about gradual decarbonization and reduction of emissions. They are achieved by partial shutdowns of the activities of the reactors when we do not need them, or modernization of their technology. It is not even a question of global justice, but a question of national security."

According to Sandov, if today we are not responsible for the climate, tomorrow we will be faced with migration from Africa, which will directly threaten us.

By 2026, he expects many important things to happen.

Azerbaijan has signed a contract for the construction of a transmission line for the transfer of renewable energy to Europe.

Egypt also to Greece.

There is a danger that Bulgaria will be surrounded and become an oasis of expensive energy, believes Sandov.

He specifies that in the winter we can use coal power when we need it.

During the rest of the time, workers can be redeployed to other sectors and this will be funded with money from the Recovery Plan.

"There are no jobs on a dead planet," he added.

"When we can't have prosperous communities, what's the point of unions?

It's like keeping executioners' jobs instead of abolishing the death penalty.”

According to Sandov, to a large extent, it is not even about saving jobs, but about supporting someone's private business.

Whether the political crisis will prolong the agony surrounding the Recovery Plan and how he will comment on the handing over of the BSP mandate were the next two questions from host Maria Cheresheva.

Sandov stated that it was both a surprise and not the president's decision to hand over the mandate to the BSP: "This is because once again he gives it to the BSP, but it is surprising that he talks about how crises should be overcome, and he gives it precisely to them, who have a minimal chance of realizing it."

He added that in the last two years, with the exception of 6 months, Bulgaria has been in a permanent election campaign.

This makes it so that the parties do not engage with the priorities of society that are on the agenda, but take up populist topics that sound only superficially important.

Regarding the case with NEXO, Sandov commented that he does not know people related to the company.

For him, this kind of speculation about the donations that the association received is unnecessary.

There is no way to monitor every single donation, especially in a period of constant election campaigns, he concluded.

Democratic Bulgaria

Borislav Sandov

Nikola Stoyanov

coal plants

Recovery and Resilience Plan