Disfigured apartments with brown water stains running down the walls, ceilings covered in green and black mould caused by trapped moisture, and a suffocating smell of damp — this is the result of the “energy efficiency measures” costing nearly €1 million in part of a residential building in Sevlievo.
In one of the apartments on the eighth floor of Entrance E in the Dimitаr Blagoev-1 residential complex, there is barely any air to breathe. The doors and windows are open, but the moisture that has soaked into the ceilings and walls can still be felt even in the hot weather.
And then the rain came…
Two women — a mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law — live in the apartment. The stains on the walls in every room, including the bathrooms, first appeared in November last year. It had rained heavily for almost a week, while the roof of the block had been stripped as part of the renovation. The entire roof — across all six entrances.
The rain did not stop and water began pouring into the apartments. First into those on the top floor, and then further down into the other flats. This happened during the renovation works, and Za Istinata saw the consequences for itself.
When the residents called the company hired to carry out the building’s energy renovation, its workers put a sheet of plastic over the roof. No one knows exactly how it was secured. Residents say the wind kept blowing it around and that, in practice, it was of little use.
An 80-year-old woman lives alone in the neighbouring apartment. Her home was affected even more severely.
“The carpet was squelching under your feet,” her neighbour recalls.
We were unable to speak to the elderly woman. She was forced to leave her home and move into a care facility because her apartment has become uninhabitable.
At first glance, it is clear that the flat had needed renovation even before the energy-efficiency works. But after the “measures”, it became completely unfit for habitation.
The traces of water running down the walls are visible from the front door. Inside, the sight is shocking: the ceiling is peeling, covered with large stains and black marks left by dirty water.
There is no electricity in the apartment. According to the neighbours, the moisture caused a short circuit, the water heater exploded, and the electricity has not been restored since.
Who will repair the damage?
The women on the eighth floor decided to contact the media after the company carrying out the “energy renovation” initially promised to repair the damage.
Then it offered another option: the residents could find a team of workers themselves and the company would cover the cost.
They found a team.
They received a quote.
The cost of repainting the interior of the 73-square-metre apartment was €6,700. This included removing the water-soaked wallpaper, plastering, priming and painting.
The company considered the amount too high. It then offered to send its own workers to carry out the repairs, but did not commit to a deadline.
It is not clear exactly when the second option was proposed, the women say — that the company would provide only the materials while the owners would have to do everything else themselves.
Some residents accepted the offer and repaired their homes themselves.
Others are still waiting.
The problem is not confined to the eighth floor
A residents’ meeting was called because there were also leaks and signs of damp lower down in the building, although not on the same scale.
The residents decided to take the contractor to court. One of them contacted a company representative in front of everyone and informed him of the decision.
The response was:
“Don’t sue us. We’ll repair the damage.”
There is an important detail in this story: judging by the accounts of the two women who spoke to Za Istinata, the company does not dispute the existence of the moisture-related damage.
Back in November, immediately after the torrential rains, one of its representatives went from apartment to apartment with a notebook and recorded the damage.
Today, however, some residents do not know what happened to that notebook.
A strange way of organising the work
“One crew does something, and then another comes along and undoes it,” says one of the elderly women from the eighth floor, describing the way the work was organised.
“I asked the people who were dismantling the scaffolding to put back the drainage outlet on my balcony because they had removed it during the renovation. They told me: get us some food, then something sweet… I was forced to give them a packet of cigarettes, otherwise they wouldn’t do it,” the woman says.
And this is not the only account of how work was carried out in the building.
Residents also describe cases in which belongings allegedly went missing from apartments whose balconies had been left open while the owners were at work.
These claims, of course, remain to be verified, and it is not clear whether anyone has filed a complaint so far.
Renovating the residential building stock
The project under which the building was renovated is financed through Bulgaria’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, under the “Support for Sustainable Energy Renovation of the Residential Building Stock” procedure — Stage 1.
Six residential buildings in Sevlievo were approved for funding. The block in the Dimitаr Blagoev-1 complex was one of them.
Two companies submitted bids: Danovi Komers Ltd and Kliner ST.
The evaluation committee appointed by Sevlievo Municipality was chaired by Deputy Mayor Nevena Todorova, whose portfolio includes territorial and urban development.
Under her leadership, between February 5 and 13, 2025, the committee evaluated the two proposals.
Both companies offered to complete the work within a total of 260 calendar days, including 50 days for design, since the procedure was for engineering — design, construction and installation works, and construction supervision.
During the evaluation, the committee disqualified Danovi Komers.
The reason is apparent from the committee’s minutes: the company’s bid contained contradictions that had nothing to do with the specific building in Sevlievo.
One page referred to an educational building, another to a dormitory, while a third stated that the site was located in Kyustendil Municipality.
A contract worth more than BGN 2 million
As a result, on April 8, 2025, Sevlievo Municipality signed a contract with Kliner ST, based in Haskovo.
The value of the contract was just under BGN 2.2 million including VAT.
There is one clause in the contract that now carries particular weight.
Chapter Four, “Rights and Obligations of the Contractor”, Article 17 states:
“The Contractor undertakes, at its own expense, to remedy all identified defects, as well as any errors made, should such errors occur at any stage of the acceptance process…”
Yet people living in the apartments now have leaks, mould and water damage which, according to the residents, appeared precisely during the renovation works.
At the same time, on July 21 this year, Sevlievo Municipality published a statement on its website:
“The energy renovation of Block No. 1 in the Dimitаr Blagoev residential complex in Sevlievo has been successfully completed.”
The statement was issued as part of the mandatory press conference marking the completion of a project financed with European funds.
As of the date of the publication, the renovation project for Block No. 1 in the Dimitаr Blagoev complex was recorded as completed in Bulgaria’s Information System for Management and Monitoring of EU Funds.
For the people living in the building, however, the renovation clearly does not look finished.
While preparing this article, Za Istinata learned that a municipal councillor from Sevlievo Municipal Council had visited the apartment where the damage was documented and had raised the issue with the mayor of Sevlievo as part of the council’s scheduled regular meeting on August 25.
Za Istinata will follow up on the responses.
Meanwhile, a representative of the contractor who had been in contact with residents told Za Istinata that “we have actually fixed our part of things”.
He explained that residents of around ten apartments had been given materials on the condition that they carry out the interior repairs themselves.
As for the rest, he said: “I can’t tell you. I’m just an ordinary worker for the company.”
There is no way to establish contact with the company’s “bosses”, since neither the contract nor the Commercial Register lists an email address or telephone number for contact.
