A mother of two children was threatened with eviction after providing “Za Istinata” with a video showing a collapsing municipal block in Shumen. The footage reveals large chunks of plaster falling from the ceilings and landing on the children’s beds inside the family’s municipal apartment.
In our investigative report, we showed that for over two years, the social housing block at 15 Odryn Street in Shumen has continued to crack and poses a life-threatening risk to its residents. The local authorities appear unable or unwilling to address the problem. Instead of tackling the poor construction, employees of the municipal enterprise “Municipal Housing and Properties” (OЖИ)—which manages the building—have started acts of intimidation against the residents and journalists who contacted them. Besides the mother and her children, a staff member from the same municipal enterprise, currently under investigation for “violating labor discipline” after allowing a journalist into the municipal block, has also been threatened.
Immediately following our publication, E. Mladenova, a resident of apartment № 50, was visited at her home by an employee of the Municipal Housing and Properties (OЖИ) and a representative of the construction company “JSP Stil” from Shumen.
“They started shouting at me, asking why I let the journalist into the apartment and why I handed over the video of the fallen ceiling onto the children’s beds. They told me I have no right to complain about the conditions, and that if I am not satisfied, I should pack my belongings and leave.”
The distressed mother recalls the incident, continuing to describe the scandal: “I called the building manager, Dimitar Hristov, to ask for assistance, but those at the door threatened me: ‘He will burn, and you will burn too, since you talk too much!’ I told them I will file a complaint with the deputy mayor tomorrow, but the builder said: ‘And what will happen if you go? Nothing will happen, and we will go higher up!’”
The woman is perplexed how an employee of a municipal enterprise can threaten her just because she spoke with a journalist and said that the ceilings in the building are falling. However, many residents in social housing fear speaking openly with journalists—most want to remain anonymous when describing what is happening in their apartments. “They threaten them to stay quiet, and people are worried because they don’t know their rights,” said building manager Dimitar Hristov.
He himself has also been threatened, for allowing a journalist into the municipal block. OЖИ manager Nikolay Kolev demanded official explanations from him, claiming he was “violating labor discipline.” The reason was a report from a colleague stating that Hristov had accompanied the journalist during an inspection of the municipal building. Asked why he doesn’t address the poor construction that could jeopardize lives instead of investigating his own staff, the head of OЖИ responded that “poor construction of the building is not his responsibility.” But after a complaint against the building manager, he was obliged to check the case. We are waiting to see whether Nikolay Kolev will show the same diligence regarding the complaint filed by the threatened employee, E. Mladenova.
Mladenova said she met yesterday with the Deputy Mayor of Shumen for Economic Issues, Nikolay Kolev, and recounted how she was threatened because of the problems in the municipal block. Later, she also filed an official complaint with the OЖИ director and the mayor of Shumen. “I am stunned—how can they persecute and threaten us instead of repairing the apartments,” she said, overwhelmed.
Urgent inspections ordered by the municipality
Following our publication, Deputy Mayor Nikolay Kolev ordered urgent inspections of all apartments in the municipal block. “In December, we already inspected all the apartments, found 23 with defects, prepared a report signed by the builder, and issued a repair order,” he explained. He added that, even in apartments where supposedly no defects were found, the plaster is falling off. Now, all the apartments in the block will be repaired.
Nikolay Kolev confirmed that he had spoken with the woman threatened by municipal employees and assured her that no one would bother her anymore. “I gave her my personal phone number and told her to call me immediately if anyone tries to intimidate her. I also ordered a full inspection of her apartment and the repair of all cracked walls and ceilings,” stated the deputy mayor.
The Shumen Municipality announced that once the inspection is completed, they will provide detailed information about the condition of the municipal block and the measures taken.
The five-story block with 51 apartments for socially disadvantaged citizens was built for nearly 3 million BGN with European funds and was officially opened with great fanfare at the end of 2022 by former Shumen mayor Lyubomir Hristov. The builder was the Shumen company “JSP Stil.” Just three months after the opening, the ceilings in the apartments began collapsing, and a baby narrowly survived after huge pieces of plaster buried his crib.
