The future of Rousse Airport is set to become one of the most discussed topics in the city ahead of the local vote on October 29. It was gifted to a private company for cloudburst fighting for ten years without a tender or competition, through an expedited process. The deal continues to raise questions, the most important of which is whether the investing company is receiving protection from both the municipality and the state.
Currently, the situation appears as follows – the private firm is pursuing its business interests while local authorities are trying to convince the public about the bright yet heavily clouded future of civil aviation in Rousse.
On his last working day, June 5, 2023, the acting Minister of Culture Nayden Todorov signed off on a protocol from a meeting of the Specialized Expert Council for the Preservation of Immovable Cultural Heritage (SECPC) that had been delayed for over six months. By the council’s decision, the building of Rousse Airport is to be officially declared a cultural monument. This prolonged procedure began back in 2021 and was further delayed due to a complaint from the Municipality of Rousse.
“Rousse citizens must decide whether it will be a mausoleum or an airport,” said Mayor Pencho Milkov in response to questions from municipal councilors from “Democratic Bulgaria.”
The process is such that all proposals for sites to be declared cultural monuments are discussed and voted on by the specialized public council. Then, within one month, the Minister of Culture must issue an order formalizing the decision, thereby protecting the buildings from demolition or other significant renovation activities.
The Specialized Expert Council for the Preservation of Immovable Cultural Heritage met at the end of December 2022 and unanimously supported the idea of declaring Rousse Airport a cultural monument. It was only in June of the following year that the protocol was signed by the minister to formalize the decision. However, in this document, Nayden Todorov wrote the following handwritten note right next to his signature: “Without point 3, which should be further discussed in the format of the representative from Rousse, the minister, the deputy minister, and the director of NINKHN.” “Point 3” refers specifically to Rousse Airport.
Between December 2022 and June 2023, a significant change occurred—the municipality signed a contract with the company “Airport Rousse” for the free use of Rousse Airport for the next 10 years. The deal has been presented to the public as an attempt to renew regular commercial flight routes to and from the riverside city. However, as “Za Istinata” reported, private business interests are apparent behind the deal.
Todorov, who is currently the director of the Sofia Philharmonic, declined to comment on the reasons behind his insistence on further discussion, whether such a discussion took place, and whether he faced pressure from the local administration in Rousse or the private company currently managing the airport to delay the building’s status as a cultural monument. By the time this text was published, no statement had been received from the Ministry of Culture.
The National Institute for Immovable Cultural Heritage confirmed to “Za Istinata” that as of October 11, 2023, Rousse Airport does not have the status of a cultural monument of national significance.
In a letter from “Docomomo Bulgaria”—a non-governmental organization focused on the preservation of architecture—to the Ministry of Culture from July of this year, they addressed “unprofessional and incompetent actions” by the acting Minister of Culture Nayden Todorov. They urged the ministry to promptly rectify the error in the protocol to preserve the airport building as a significant example of post-war modernism in Bulgaria. The organization also reminded that in 2021, the mayor of Rousse, Pencho Milkov, expressed approval for the idea of the airport building receiving the status of a cultural monument.
The main problem with Rousse Airport is that the contract between the municipality and “Airport Rousse” does not require the company to provide regular passenger flight services. It includes requirements such as the installation of a video surveillance system, construction of a fence, and development of a master plan, among others.
These steps are necessary for the investor company to operate its aircraft for cloudburst intervention. In this regard, the Municipality of Rousse stated to “Za Istinata” in March of this year that the decision of the Municipal Council regarding the airport’s lease, as well as the signed contract, mentions that the airport may only be used as a civil airport.
If it does not operate according to the agreed purpose, the municipality reserves the right to terminate the contract.
“The 15 mandatory points exceed the actions that the user needs to undertake to operate flights solely related to combating cloudbursts,” the Municipality of Rousse stated in response to questions about how the interests of citizens will be protected. They added that the certificate for airworthiness, which the investor must also provide within a year, “will allow the implementation of regular civil flights.”
So far, “Airport Rousse” has renovated the passenger terminal building, built a 9-kilometer fence, and restored the runway lighting. It remains to be seen whether and when the promised passenger airplanes, such as Airbus and Boeing, will take off from the runway in Rousse, or if only familiar private planes and those for cloudburst intervention will continue to land there.
