The Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water - Plovdiv (RIEW-Plovdiv) has issued a prescription for termination of all activities by the two stone quarries near the Plovdiv village of Belashtitsa. This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister for Climate Policy and Minister of Environment and Water Borislav Sandov, who met with the protesters in Belashtitsa at the end of the day. Earlier today, protesters blocked the road to one of the quarries and stopped more than 20 trucks loaded with inert materials.

Two teams from RIEW-Plovdiv today inspected the quarries above the village on signals that they continue to work despite their expired concession contracts. The inspectors met with representatives of both quarries and made a thorough tour of the Belashtitsa South deposit. No mining activity and heavy equipment was found on the internal quarry roads. The last mining activity was carried out in the period from December 30, 2021 to February 3, 2022.

During the inspection, the experts found that on the land owned by one of the concessionaires, located outside the concession zone, there is a production base that is operated by a third company. The production base has a crushing and sorting installation, which currently operates and performs primary processing of stored extracted materials. The crushed stone material was loaded on the trucks, which were blocked by protesters at the exit of the road between the villages of Belashtitsa and Galabovo. According to the report provided to the inspectors on site, 48 vehicles left the base today.

The company operating the production site has not conducted a procedure under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) with RIEW-Plovdiv and it is unknown whether the company has received permission by the Regional Directorate of the National Construction Control or the mayor to carry out its activities. Therefore, the inspection stopped the work of the production base with a prescription to conduct a procedure for environmental impact assessment under the EPA.

The checks by the environmental inspectors will continue tomorrow.