The main road in the village of Polikraishte from Ruse to Veliko Tarnovo is closed to traffic again. Hundreds of villagers are crossing on the pedestrian path to the school. Long lines of cars and trucks are forming. "We want water and electricity, and most of all information in advance when they will be shut off", protesters told the Bulgarian National Radio.
"We want to know exactly when we will not have water, why we will not have water, and I really hope that this gathering of people will peacefully pay attention to both the Water and Sewerage Department and the energy distribution company. The water should be fixed, the electricity should be fixed in this village, because they are shut off every other day. One is not there today, the other is not there tomorrow. There are constant breakdowns in the village that no one is fixing. There is no short-term solution, possibly about 10 years".
There is no short-term solution to the problem of water supply in Polikraishte, this is also admitted by the mayor of Gorna Oryahovitsa Municipality Nikolay Rashkov and the chairman of the Municipal Council Ognyan Stoyanov, who came to the protest to support the people. The pipes from the reservoir, through which water is maintained in the network in case of accidents in the village, have been cut for 30 years. There are no plans to restore it.
Currently, there is water in Polikraishte, but it is not known for how long. With 97 thousand leva, the Gorna Oryahovitsa Municipality is reworking an old project to replace the internal water supply network in the village with over 2 thousand residents. It is not clear when and with what funding it will be implemented. The protest with the block on the Ruse - Veliko Tarnovo road in Polikraishte continues. People are chanting "We want water". There are a lot of police. At this stage, there are no excesses.