The chimney of a pellet production facility located just meters from a residential neighborhood in Sevlievo has been releasing thick smoke into the atmosphere for three years, yet no one knows what the residents in the area are breathing.
This is the same facility that was suspected of being linked to former GERB deputy Emil Dimitrov and former Minister of Agriculture Miroslav Naydenov. Today, this connection is visible in the Commercial Register, and an inspection by the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water (RIEW) in Veliko Tarnovo has established that the ecological requirements for such production have not been met.
Regular sampling of the emissions released into the atmosphere is one of the conditions for the operation of the pellet production facility situated on the grounds of the former “Original” company in Sevlievo, which began operating in the spring of 2019. Prior to this, RIEW Veliko Tarnovo recommended that the height of the emission source, i.e., the chimney, be assessed so that the concentration of pollutants in the ground layer does not exceed permissible limits during the dispersion of emissions from production. For this purpose, RIEW indicated that measurement points should be established, and if pollution levels exceed the limits, the facility’s operations should be suspended.
None of this has occurred during the three years since the pellet facility commenced operations, as established by RIEW on March 2 of this year during an inspection prompted by questions sent by “Za istinata.”
There is no sign of measurement points on the production site,
as noted in the inspection report, a copy of which RIEW provided in full to “Za istinata” (For the truth).
The inspection reveals that there is a seven-meter chimney connected to the production line, which discharges emissions into the atmosphere. However, since the facility began operations, RIEW has not received any samples or data from emissions monitoring and testing. This means that even if there have been exceedances of pollution standards, nothing has been done to establish this, and the operations of the facility have not been suspended, as stipulated prior to the commencement of production.
In connection with the findings of the Inspection, a directive was issued requiring the pellet manufacturer to establish a sampling point for emissions from the cyclone after the drum dryer to the production line by March 21 of this year. Once this is accomplished by May 22, the manufacturer must present the results of their own periodic emissions measurements to the environmental inspection.
Moreover, another indication from the environmental inspection has not been followed—
regarding the preliminary storage of waste. The waste must comply with the requirements of the Regulation on the Treatment and Transportation of Production Waste, as it pertains to materials “containing mercury, slag, and bottom ash from boilers,” as noted in the documents through which the chief architect of the Municipality of Sevlievo issued a permit for the change of use of a former foundry into a pellet production facility.
This permit was issued on March 27, 2019, to the company “Svilat Trading,” registered in Haskovo, which owns the property of the defunct company “Original” in Sevlievo, while the pellet factory is operated by “Balkan Pellets.” This detail is unrelated to the irregularities identified by the environmental inspection.
According to Regulation 1 of 2014 on the procedures and forms for providing information on waste activities, as well as the procedures for maintaining public registers, owners of operations generating waste are required to submit annual reports to the relevant RIEW. These reports are not uniform, as they depend on the type of production waste, but they are entirely mandatory. During the inspection of the pellet factory in Sevlievo,
the inspectors did not receive documentation proving the maintenance of such reporting and the upkeep of public registers for the production waste.
The good news is that no waste containing mercury was found during the inspection, as stated in the inspection report.
To align its operations with the legislation, the manager of “Balkan Pellets” was instructed to submit a working sheet for the classification of waste, including slag, ash, and bottom ash, to RIEW by March 18 of this year, to implement mandatory reporting regarding the waste, and to present documentation proving that these requirements have been fulfilled.
During the inspection, Zornitsa Alexieva was present on behalf of the producer, as noted in the report, which is visibly signed by her without objection.
RIEW conducted an inspection of the pellet factory after “Za istinata” inquired whether the ecological requirements for such production, located in a residential area, were being met. These questions were not sent without purpose; rather, they were prompted by the thick smoke billowing from the facility’s chimney all winter, which often settled like a blanket in the valley where Sevlievo is located for hours on end. Given that RIEW had previously indicated to the investor what steps needed to be taken to comply with ecological standards before production commenced, the inquiries from “Za istinata” aimed to establish what the measurement points had reported. It became clear only upon receiving responses that the questions from “Za istinata” served as a signal for the environmental inspectors to verify whether their recommendations had been followed.
The fact that no one has entered the newly opened production facility, located in a residential area, for three years—despite it being situated in an industrial zone according to the urban planning—might contribute to suspicions that a protective umbrella is being extended over “Balkan Pellets.”
From the very start of operations at the pellet factory in 2019, the connection with former GERB deputy Emil Dimitrov and former Minister of Agriculture Miroslav Naydenov was evident. A year later, this connection became official, as shown in the Commercial Register.
In November 2020, nearly a year after the factory began operations, the limited liability company “Simeon-2” entered the partnership with “Balkan Pellets.” The registered address of the new partner is in Etropole, which is also the hometown of Emil Dimitrov, and the partners in this company include him, Simeon Emilov Dimitrov, and Buryana Asenova Dimitrova.
The connection with Naydenov is now more apparent. The signature on the inspection report of the facility belongs to Zornitsa Alexieva, identified as the authorized representative present during the RIEW inspection.
Alexieva is the coordinator for the BASTA party in the Gabrovo region.
This is the party that Miroslav Naydenov co-founded in 2013 alongside Emil Dimitrov. The acronym BAFTA stands for “Bulgarians for an Alternative to Fear, Totalitarianism, and Apathy,” and Zornitsa Alexieva is listed as the coordinator in the regional structure for Gabrovo.
There is another detail that “Za istinata” reported back in 2019. At that time, the architect of the municipality of Sevlievo approved the change of use from a metal foundry to a pellet production facility, and the municipal architect did not deny that the factory would operate just 130 meters from the nearest residential block. He justified his actions in terms of legality rather than appropriateness, as the facility is located in an industrial zone according to the urban planning.
Another circumstance reinforces suspicions that everything was arranged—half a year before the launch of the new production, a large quantity of timber was stored on the premises of the future factory for several months. This undoubtedly suggests that everyone involved in the chain was aware that the factory would receive the necessary permits to operate, even if it was beneath the windows of the residents in the neighborhood.
