The Bobov Dol TPP has once again gassed Golemo Selo and the region. On Wednesday, June 25, hundreds of people woke up in a thick cloud of black dust and a suffocating smell of sulfur dioxide. The levels of the poisonous gas reached 1077.60 micrograms per cubic meter – twice above the absolute limit of 500 micrograms, categorized as an alarm threshold when the exceedance lasts for 1 hour.
This is not an isolated case, but a systemic problem over the past seven years. This is shown by data from measurement protocols carried out with a mobile station in the period January 2019 – May 2025, writes "Greenpeace" and adds:
However, the competent authorities neither cease the operation of the polluting power plant, associated with Hristo Kovachki, nor notify the population of the deteriorated air quality.
The Executive Agency for the Environment, which makes the official measurements, provided the data to „Greenpeace“ – Bulgaria under the Access to Public Information Act. Although they reveal shocking levels of pollution in Golemo Selo under the chimneys of the „Bobov Dol“ TPP, the protocols have remained shrouded in secrecy, even though they represent public information.
With a signal to seven institutions „Greenpeace“ – Bulgaria insists on the urgent publication of official pollution data and the closure of the Bobov Dol TPP until it has carried out sufficient and high-quality repairs so that it can comply with its permit.
“This plant is a criminal case in which there are no innocents. A brutal violation of all norms that protect people's lives and health. A measuring station that has been measuring selectively for years. And at the same time - criminal silence on the part of the institutions. Silence that is measured by irreparable damage to the people and nature of Bulgaria, in the name of the full pockets of various pseudo-consultants“ - said Desislava Mikova, coordinator of the “Climate and Energy“ campaign at “Greenpeace“ – Bulgaria.
Every year, exceedances of the average hourly norm for sulfur dioxide of 350 µg/m3 have been recorded. Every year, with the exception of 2023, exceedances of the average daily norm for this indicator - 125 µg/m3 - have also been recorded. In 2019, 2020 and 2021, the number of registered exceedances exceeds, sometimes many times, the number of exceedances of the norms permitted by law.
It is important to emphasize that the mobile station that registered these exceedances takes measurements in the area of the TPP “Bobov Dol“ on average only 60 days a year, or about 15% of the time. It can be assumed with high probability that year-round measurements would record even more cases of dangerous pollution, with a high potential for violations of legal limits. Only since April of this year has there been a permanent measuring station in Golemo Selo, set by the TPP “Bobov Dol“ as a new requirement in its permit.
Even more worrying is the silence of the control authorities when the alarm threshold for sulfur dioxide pollution is exceeded. The data show five such cases in 2019, two in 2020 and as many as ten in 2021. Again - when measured within an average of 60 days a year.
Pollution levels beyond the alarm threshold create an immediate danger to the health of the population. Therefore, the law obliges the competent authorities to promptly provide information about the pollution, recommend precautionary measures and act to limit the pollution. None of this has happened in the municipality of Bobov Dol. The Minister of Environment and Water, the Director of the Environmental Inspectorate and the Mayor of the Municipality are responsible.
Due to the large industrial polluter on its territory, the Municipality of Bobov Dol has an Air Quality Program. However, it does not include measures to reduce sulfur dioxide pollution - due to a false claim that no such pollution was reported in the municipality in 2020. Thus, the municipal authorities create a dangerous impression that there is no problem with this air pollutant.
These data raise many questions, especially against the background of the disturbing revelations of the Anti-Corruption Fund in the investigation into the secret holding company “Orion“, in which the TPP “Bobov Dol“ is cited as an enterprise of central importance. Among the published internal documents is a report on “monthly incentives in the amount of 2,000 leva. of the Chief Architect of the Municipality of Bobov Dol“.
It is important to note that if an official conceals or discloses false information about the state of the environment, resulting in damage to nature, life and human health, the Criminal Code defines this as a crime against health and the environment.
Over the years, the environmental inspectorate has imposed fines on the Bobov Dol Thermal Power Plant due to air pollution. However, they have no effect, given that pollution remains an everyday occurrence for local people even now. The power plant, whose consultant is businessman Hristo Kovachki, has avoided fines of over 2.5 million leva for the period 2018-2023. This is shown by an analysis by Greenpeace Bulgaria from March 2025.
Of the 84 fines imposed on the Bobov Dol Thermal Power Plant over the six-year period, nearly half have been reduced by the court. Every fifth fine has been canceled by the court. The total amount of sanctions for the polluting power plant exceeds 4.5 million leva. However, only 1.7 million leva have been paid. And the pollution continues.
In addition to the environmental inspection, several institutions are responsible for the control of the Bobov Dol TPP - with their actions or inactions. Therefore, Greenpeace Bulgaria has filed a report about the ongoing pollution and the plant's systematic violations to all of them: the Ministry of Environment and Water, the Executive Agency for the Environment, the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water - Sofia, the Kyustendil District Prosecutor's Office, the Kyustendil Regional Health Inspectorate, the mayors of the Bobov Dol and Golemo Selo municipalities.
Requests of Greenpeace Bulgaria to the control institutions
1. To issue an order to stop the plant until it has carried out sufficient and high-quality repairs so that it can comply with the conditions of its permit.
2. By the end of July 2025, the responsible institutions should publish information on pollution in the period 2019 - 2025 on their websites and in the media.
3. By the end of July 2025, ensure that the results of the measurements carried out with the TPP station “Bobov Dol“ and the state mobile station are published on the websites of the Bobov Dol Municipality and the Eco-Inspection in Sofia within 24 hours of the measurement time.
4. Hold at least two public discussions on the territory of the Bobov Dol Municipality, one of which is in the village of Golemo Selo. Representatives of the Eco-Inspection, the Health Inspection, the Bobov Dol Municipality and the Executive Environment Agency should be included in these discussions, to present information on pollution in the region, recommendations for personal protection measures and signaling to the control authorities.
5. As soon as possible, the Municipality of Bobov Dol should prepare and adopt an Air Quality Program for the sulfur dioxide indicator based on actual air pollution data in the region.
6. By June 2026, a screening of the health status of the population on the territory of the Municipality of Bobov Dol and Dupnitsa should be carried out by settlement and type of disease, with publication of summarized results of the study.