I’m not in Bulgaria and can’t comment at the moment. This is how Culture Minister Velislav Minekov answered Maritsa’s question about the demolished building on Avksentiy Veleshki Street in Plovdiv. As we have already reported, the readers of “Maritsa” sent our editorial team a report with photos and a video showing that part of the former administration of the former Cigarette Factory was destroyed.
Velislav Minekov is in Skopje for the opening of the Bulgarian cultural center in the capital of North Macedonia. He promised the “Maritsa” journalist that he would forward the report to the department’s experts and that the Ministry of Culture would take an official position on the case early next week.
“Maritsa” also asked the director of the National Institute of Immovable Cultural Heritage Petar Petrov for a comment. He is a former chief architect of the “Central” district, on the territory of which the Tobacco City and the building in question are located. However, he did not answer the phone and replied with a text message that he was in an important meeting and could not speak at the moment.
We also contacted a representative of the investor “Victoria City Center”. The owner Velichko Yakov explained that he has all the documents necessary for the demolition of part of the building and that he has not committed any illegal actions. It turned out that the Ministry of Culture is aware of the case and has long refused to approve the project, which involves new construction on part of the property. However, the refusal went to court.
Plovdiv Municipality commented that they checked the object, but since it is third-rate, they forwarded the file to RDNSK already a month ago. The building control management did not find any violations.
State institutions and local authorities continue to exchange the ball for the buildings of the City of Tobacco and other cultural monuments. While officials rummage through the archives and do not find time for legislative changes and to write a clear plan for the management of cultural heritage, the old buildings are losing the battle with time. The ordeal for the owners has been going on for years and they still don’t know what they should, can and cannot do with their properties. Meanwhile, they spend large sums of money on maintenance, repairs, security and antiquities taxes, as well as on the development of projects that usually do not see the light of day.
The question is why the responsible institutions have different positions on cases with buildings of similar historical value, which, above all, are located in the same architectural area. And it’s not about special interests, lobbying and creating conditions for corrupt practices. Recall that two months ago Minister Minekov came to Plovdiv three times and personally tried to stop excavators from demolishing two old buildings at 51-53 Hristo Botev Blvd. Arch Petar Petrov was also in the field and even lined up alongside the demonstrators, including the Arch. Petkana Bakalova, Prof. Maria Shnitter and activists of “Democratic Bulgaria”.
