"We are saving the energy balance of the system," the president of the trade union "Podkrepa" Dimitar Manolov told BNR on the occasion of the protests of energy workers and miners.  

"At the moment, the thermal power plants provide between 40 and 60% of the basic electricity production. Until we find a technical solution to replace them, it would be madness to act in this direction. The solutions that are being proposed not only do not address this issue, but exacerbate the problem," the trade union leader said. 

According to Manolov, the government is proposing to close down an entire sector of the energy industry in exchange for receiving €1.5 billion from the EU. The shutdown of thermal power plants will directly affect 13-14,000 people, but in total around 120,000 people in coal mining areas will suffer.