On March 4th of this year, the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) annulled the decision of the Sofia Regional Administrative Court, which had permitted Rumen Gaitanski—also known as “The Wolf”—to build a waste incineration plant near the village of Vŭrbovka in the Pavlikeni municipality.
In its ruling, SAC pointed out that the first-instance court had a file with five volumes of evidence but had not examined any of the documents—or addressed any of the objections raised by the involved parties—when issuing its decision. The Court emphasized that the initial ruling lacked a comprehensive assessment of the facts and failed to specify which evidence formed the basis of its legal conclusions. As a result, SAC ordered the case to be reconsidered by a different panel, which must adhere strictly to the lawful interpretation of the legislation.
What does this mean?
Rumen Gaitanski cannot proceed with his investment proposal—namely, the construction of a logistics and storage facility for stone fragments, a stone wool manufacturing plant, a waste incineration plant intended to serve as an energy source for other production activities, and related infrastructure—because there is a negative environmental impact assessment (EIA) decision, upheld by the Director of RIOSV in Veliko Tarnovo, following an expert environmental council meeting.
Although Gaitanski appealed and initially won the case, SAC’s recent decision reinforced the validity of the environmental authority’s verdict. The new panel will be obliged to follow the legal guidance issued by the Supreme Court, which criticizes the original ruling for being unmotivated and lacking a proper factual and evidentiary basis.
Citizens’ victory
The fight against burning tons of waste in one of the most fertile regions of Bulgaria was led by the citizens’ organization “You Decide,” successor to “For Pavlikeni.” As public awareness grew about the harmful effects the waste incineration plant would have on people, animals, and nature, more and more community energy accumulated into supporting petitions. Around 20,000 signatures from residents of five municipalities were submitted to the Veliko Tarnovo RIOSV before the second session of the Environmental Expert Council, which ultimately rejected Gaitanski’s investment plan.
Three years of protests and legal battles
The citizens’ campaign against the planned “ecological bomb” in Vŭrbovka lasted exactly three years. In March 2022, residents of Pavlikeni municipality organized protests demanding that local authorities oppose the project by preventing the implementation of Gaitanski’s investment. Their protests were fueled in part by support from Mayor Emanuel Manolov (BSP) and his deputy, Anastasia Vacheva, which was widely criticized by environmental activists like Pencho Pandakov—who called their actions a “dishonest betrayal.” Pandakov, a hydrobiologist and member of the expert environmental council, cast one of the two “against” votes on Gaitanski’s proposal, with the other cast by Darita Zarichinova from the “For the Earth” organization.
This was the first environmental council where the Veliko Tarovno Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water approved Gaitanski’s project. At that time, the director of the Eco-inspection was Tsonka Hristova, later replaced by Maya Radeva, indicating internal shifts within the agency responsible for environmental controls.
The municipality of Pavlikeni also issued a positive opinion on the investment, but the City Council in the town opposed the construction of a stone wool plant and an incinerator with a capacity of 56 tons of waste per hour, operating 24/7 year-round.
A new director of RIOSV and a new expert council
This shift in stance, undoubtedly influenced by growing public discontent, was marked by the appointment of Maya Radeva by the then Minister of Environment and Water, Borislav Sandov, as director of RIOSV in Veliko Turnovo. Radeva approached the issue differently — carefully considering residents’ arguments, agricultural producers’ concerns, and even historians’ objections to the site planned for the stone wool factory and waste incinerator.
Radeva called for a re-examination of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed investment, citing particular opinions from two members of the expert council at RIOSV, and scheduled a second environmental expert council meeting — initially in the fall of 2022. However, this was delayed by almost six months, and the meeting finally took place in March 2023. With 19 votes “for,” one “against,” and one abstention, the expert council recommended that the director reject the implementation of the project by “Peturngia” for waste incineration near the village of Vrbovka in Pavlikeni.
Potential harms documented in 26 pages
Maya Radeva detailed these concerns in her decision rejecting the project. She pointed out that the proposed plant and incinerator could pose serious potential impacts, including in emergency situations or under abnormal operation, on the atmosphere, water, and soil.
However, her decision is not final and can be appealed. The investor exercised this right and submitted an appeal to the Sofia-Region Administrative Court, which on July 12, 2024, ruled in their favor.
The court overturned the negative decision made by the Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water (RIOSV) in Veliko Turnovo regarding the environmental impact assessment for the project. With this ruling, Rumen Gaitanski — “The Wolf” — could begin constructing the waste incineration plant near Pavlikeni. Once again, the citizens’ opposition played a key role in blocking the project.
This court ruling has been appealed by RIOSV Director Maya Radeva and the “You Decide” association to the Supreme Administrative Court. With the ruling issued on March 4 of this year, the case appears to be settled. However, it’s advisable to wait before celebrating — we will see how the new panel of judges approaches this nearly five-year saga of burning tons of waste near Pavlikeni.
