Illegal Quarry Materials Used to Repair Public Road in Bulgaria

A regional inspection in Bulgaria revealed an illegal quarry used for mining inert materials near the village of Tsergilivtsi. The investigation was initiated after a local council member in Trun reported the quarry’s unlawful operation. The council member claimed that the extracted rock was used as the base layer for a new road currently under construction. While the company responsible for the road construction denied these claims, evidence suggests otherwise. The quarry’s size is considerable and easily visible. Upon arriving at the location, the asphalt laying process for the road was underway. The quarry itself featured a work shed and an excavator. Local council members apprehended an excavator in the act of loading rocks onto a truck that appeared to belong to the company handling the road repairs. The council members provided photographic and video evidence of the illegal quarry operation. Following the investigation, the Regional Inspectorate for Environment-Sofia confirmed the quarry’s illegality. The company overseeing the road project, ‘European Roads,’ claimed to have used rock materials from legal quarries located in the municipality of Blagoevgrad. They presented a declaration for the rock materials used on the road. The company insists that the quarry was used as storage space for materials, while denying any involvement in the illicit mining activities. The Ministry of Energy conducted its own investigation and found evidence of rock extraction, but no machinery was operating during the inspection. Another illegal quarry was discovered near the village of Ezdimirtsi, also under road construction. This quarry featured deployed machinery, further indicating ongoing illegal mining operations.