Photo: “Otzva”
On July 4, 2025, Interior Minister Daniel Mitov ordered the cancellation of the police fine against Gergana Pavlova and the suspension of training shooting at the Smolyan Police Department between 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM, following media revelations that the young mother had been fined 1,000 leva due to complaints about the deafening noise disturbing her one-year-old child.
Complaints ignored by authorities
After nine months of no response from institutions, Gergana Pavlova—a 28-year-old mother from Smolyan with a one-year and two-month-old child—sought media attention on July 2 to share that the police had fined her following complaints made via the emergency number 112 about the noise from training shootings at the Police Department shooting range in Smolyan.
Pavlova lives in a house near the Police Department. Instead of the authorities stopping the public order violations, they decided to show force by sanctioning her.The “Industrial Zone Zagore – Elenino” park is being developed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan with a total project value of 17.3 million leva, of which 14 million leva are grant funding from the Ministry of Innovation and Growth. The investments in the park are expected to exceed 500 million leva, creating over 1,000 new jobs. The joint-stock company of Tsvetelina Borislavova will implement its “Heros” project in the zone, including factories for vanadium batteries, recycling old solar panels, and producing solar cells.
“I am reporting to 112, I just want the shooting from 2 to 4 o’clock to stop, just as all of us citizens observe public order.”
, Pavlova said.
“My child gets startled, especially if asleep.”
It all started in October 2024, when Pavlova filed the first complaint. Shortly afterwards, she was called to the Police Department to give a statement.
“I was promised that this would never happen again and that they would do everything possible to fix the shooting range’s insulation.”
she said. At the request of a police inspector, she even wrote a letter of thanks. “After that, maybe for a week or two there really were no shootings, but then it started again.”
The sound meter that proves nothing
After months of renewed complaints, in March 2025 Pavlova received a call from the director of the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior in Smolyan, Senior Commissioner Tsvetan Tsankov. “He told me that it cannot be stopped, to file a complaint with him, with the Regional Directorate, if I want it to stop. And that he would conduct an inspection with the Regional Health Inspectorate (RZI).”
Later, she was given a protocol stating that 53.5 decibels were measured—below the allowable limit of 55. But: “It had absolutely nothing to do with all the other times when shooting took place,” she emphasized.
Punishment instead of silence
On June 11, Pavlova filed a new complaint to 112. The police responded that “they will take measures, they will see what is happening.” However, the shooting did not stop. “I called 112 again,” she recounted. A week later, the police called her back:
“They called me at 7:30 in the morning and told me I had to go at 9:30.”
“They called me at 7:30 in the morning and told me I had to go at 9:30.”
At the Police Department, she was informed that a fine would be issued against her. “I asked what this summons was about, and they told me they had to write me a fine for improper use of the 112 emergency number.”
The fine states that Pavlova filed a complaint “not for its intended purpose.” “I have a little child, one year and two months old, whom I want to rest and sleep from 2 to 4 o’clock, as the law allows, not to be startled by the shootings.” She adds: “They are disturbing my child; something could happen to my child, he could get scared.”
The Ombudsman intervenes—without results
Pavlova sought assistance from institutions several times. She wrote emails to the Ministry of Interior and to the Ombudsman. “They replied that they would immediately speak to the director of the Regional Directorate, Tsvetan Tsankov.” Later, they responded that he had refused and that “they sent me everything by email, the results of the inspection by the Regional Health Inspectorate, but I have not received anything like that.” She adds: “They did not intend to send it to me since they said only the entity that requested the measurement (in this case, the Ministry of Interior) has the right to receive the results.”
The police position
In a written statement, the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior (RDMVR) in Smolyan, a few hours after Pavlova’s press conference, announced that the shooting range has been “soundproofed” and that the noise level “does not exceed permissible norms.” The Directorate stated that an inspection was ordered, that Pavlova did not allow inspectors into her home, and that “other residents” did not complain. However, in the same statement, Senior Commissioner Tsvetan Tsankov acknowledged “sensitivity shown on the matter” and issued an order on July 2 prohibiting shooting between 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM.
Ministerial intervention
Two days later, on July 4, NOVA aired a report on the show “Hello, Bulgaria.” Minutes later, Minister Mitov announced that “the situation is regulated” and that there is a “legal mechanism” to revoke the fine. According to him, acting Chief Secretary Miroslav Rashkov has already spoken with the director of the RDMVR in Smolyan. Mitov acknowledged that the shootings during the break “do not comply with public order” and committed to regulatory changes for all police shooting ranges in populated areas. This amounted to an admission by the Ministry of Interior that Smolyan is not an isolated case, but that there is a systemic problem.
