What will happen to the thousands of Bulgarian workers after giving up coal mining? Aren’t you going to trade abroad too? Agence France-Presse described in a report the concerns of people in the Maritza East mine region.

“It will be a real catastrophe” – this is the forecast of the 34-year-old miner Nikolay Dinev, who has been working at Maritza East for 12 years. His exclamation in a conversation with reporters of Agence France-Presse refers to the plans to stop coal mining in Bulgaria – “the poorest country in the EU and one of the most dependent on coal,” as specified by the agency. The French media also recalls that the deposit “Maritsa East” was discovered by a French geologist in the mid-19th century and developed by Soviet engineers.

There will be no going back

The author points out that Bulgaria has repeatedly tried to postpone the end of coal mining, but in the current critical climate situation, which world leaders are currently discussing in Glasgow, Bulgarian miners should not have illusions. Nearly 30,000 people work in the sector, and in October in Sofia you have protests of miners, but “the decision has already been made”, comment AFP.

The agency recalls that within the so-called EU “green deal”, coal in Bulgaria should be discontinued by 2040 – due to carbon dioxide emissions and global warming. “Currently, you read 12,000 workers flock to the opening of mines and smoking chimneys of power plants every day, where more than 1/3 of the country’s electricity is produced,” the report said.

Nikolay Dinev is most afraid of insecurity. He would like to start a period of at least 30 years before the closure of the mines to retire, but he points to some as a deadline of 2026, others 2038 – this uncertainty is in question.

Nikolai will soon want to study mining engineering and geology in absentia to become a foreman, but now the plans will look different: “I’ll probably go abroad,” the 34-year-old suggested, like millions of other Bulgarians who 198 left9 to seek a better fate in the West, summarize the author.

Nikolai was originally in the army, like his father. There, however, he earned only BGN 500, while in the mine they took BGN 1,500 for 12 hours of work a day. From the report we also learn that with the money he managed to build a house for his family and parents, and today in the garden ï home cultivation of fruits, vegetables, chickens and rabbits. Nikolai even dreams of a large swimming pool in the yard. At the end of the report of AFP we read:

Bulgaria is already bloodless from emigration

“Apart from himself, he is worried about Bulgaria, which is bleeding from emigration.” Not only my colleagues in the mine – all the people who depend on the mines are worried, including my mechanic, “he said.

“The situation is not rosy,” said Zhivko Dermendzhiev, 40, who has been working as an electrical engineer at Maritza East for 20 years.

He is dissatisfied with everything: the uncertainty about the future and the lack of concrete proposals from the authorities for the transformation of the region. “Every day, the two get up at dark dawn to catch the bus at 5:50 a.m. And among the last parents to pick up their children from school in the evening,” AFP reported.

The article is presented by the Bulgarian edition of Deutsche Welle.