On 24 and 25 June 2025, the University of Plovdiv hosted the conference “A Future Trapped in the Carbon Past,” dedicated to the just transition in Bulgaria. The conference provided an opportunity for researchers, journalists, NGO activists, and trade unionists to discuss current issues related to environmental issues and the post-carbon future in Bulgaria—particularly in the Stara Zagora and Dimitrovgrad region (the so-called “Maritsa East”).
On 24 June 2025, Vladimir Mitev, founder of the Bulgarian-Romanian blog The Bridge of Friendship and co-founder of Cross-border Talks, presented his observations on the just transition in Romania and Bulgaria. His thesis was that where there is conscious economic interest and a critical mass of interested citizens and institutions, change happens.
Vladimir Mitev’s speech was followed by questions from the audience, which he answered. For technical reasons, part of the dialogue between Vladimir and the audience cannot be reproduced, but most of it is available.
Vladimir Mitev:
Thank you to the organizers for the opportunity to share with you my experience of just transition in Bulgaria and Romania. In the fall of 2024 and early 2025, together with my Polish colleague Malgorzata Kulbachevska-Figat, I visited mining regions in the two countries as part of a joint project with our Czech colleague Veronika Susova-Salmainen. The cross-border journalism project was focused on the topic of just transition in Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Bulgaria and was funded by the Belgian organization Journalism Fund, which supports independent and cross-border journalism in Europe.
As part of the project, we talked to politicians, economists, representatives of the non-governmental sector, green activists, trade union leaders, cultural figures, and miners, with the aim of getting a realistic picture of the progress of the just transition in the region, the challenges it faces, and possible good practices.
I am one of the few participants today who does not have a visual presentation, but I hope that the experience I will share from Romania will make up for this. I will present some comparisons between the reality in Romania and that in Bulgaria in terms of just transition and draw some conclusions based on them.
First, some background information about Romania
In Romania, there is a strong, traditional antipathy among the urban elites, who are now, let’s say, the middle class and people in NGOs, towards the social group of miners.
This is due to the so-called Mineriads of the 1990s, when miners from the Jiu river valley came to Bucharest and physically fought with liberal students who were protesting. This is how the stigma associated with miners came about. This coincided in the 1990s with the gradual closure of the mines, because in 1997 the International Monetary Fund declared that Romania could no longer sustain inefficient production. Between 1997 and 1999, 20,000 miners in the Jiu Valley were laid off.
Today, there are only about 2,000 miners and four active mines left in the region, whereas mining used to be much more intense. In a sense, the just transition – whether fair or not – has already begun, or at least the closure of the mines is almost complete.
In the 1990s, miners in Romania seemed threatening. Even today, not far from the government building in Bucharest, there is a monument dedicated to the victims of the miners – a painful reminder of those years. But in 2025, the context has changed radically: the urban middle class is triumphant. The winner of the May 2025 presidential elections, Nicușor Dan, is the representative of this new dominant social class, linked to the NGO sector, the technocratic elite, and the values of an urbanized and educated middle class.
Against this backdrop, the mines are in the process of being permanently closed—the symbolic and real end of an era.
Planeta Petrila
I would like to conclude my introduction with the film Planeta Petrila before moving on to the next topics. For me, this film is a kind of farewell to the miners and mining – without hatred.
Anyone who sees it can feel respect for their work. The film shows how the last ton of coal is brought to the surface from the Petrila mine, and the entire film is imbued with respect for this work, but also with an awareness of the end of an era.
The film shows how citizens – including artists and representatives of the NGO sector – can change the urban environment through creative intervention and civic protest. The story tells how the Petrila mine was saved from destruction thanks to the efforts of the local community. The main character of the film and ideologist of the Planeta Petrila cultural movement, Ion Barbu, utters a memorable line: “Petrila’s only chance is its cultural chance.” This is the vision of the Planeta Petrila movement for the post-mining future of the region: cultural events, the development of museums, and the transformation of industrial heritage into a living cultural space.
Just transition in Romania
Regardless of the success of the 2016 film Planeta Petrila, the conclusion that can be drawn is that Romania is not much further ahead in the just transition than Bulgaria. It is true that the process of organizing tenders for small, medium, and micro-enterprises is moving faster there. But according to one of my interlocutors in the Gorj district, about a third of the funds from these tenders are earmarked for the construction of guesthouses and small hotels – which does not lead to the effective employment of a large number of laid-off miners. In the end, it is not a real transition, but just “good money” for people who already have capital.
Corina Murafa, one of Romania’s leading experts on just transition, is very dissatisfied with how this process is unfolding. She speaks of a lack of ideas and political will. In her view, the projects that have been approved are trivial and have little impact.
At the same time, until just a few days ago, the energy minister was Sebastian Burduja, a man who sympathizes with Donald Trump. In other words, he saw it in the country’s interest to extend the life of both the mines and the coal-fired power plants. This leads to a situation where ideas related to the green transition and supported by the NGO sector are developing mainly in the Jiu Valley. There, according to discussions we had at the end of last year, there are over 30 active non-governmental organizations. However, the impression is that even these complex and well-developed ideas of decentralization, self-governance, and independence from the center are being implemented too slowly—and their wider impact has yet to be realized.
A just transition happens when organizations and institutions recognize their interest in it
And from here I would like to share a few conclusions that I hope will be of interest to you. Some of those present have spoken quite critically about trade unions. As an outside observer of the struggles for a just and green transition, I may not have understood all the details, but I see a difference between the trade unions in Romania and those in Bulgaria.
In Bulgaria, the KNSB—as far as I know—supports some elements of a just transition. For example, the mapping of workers’ skills in Maritsa East is being carried out with their support. From the discussions I have had with their representatives, it is clear that they are also interested in the recultivation of the mines. This attitude of the KNSB differs from that of trade unions in Romania.
In Romania, I spoke with two trade union leaders from different organizations – Cartel Alfa and the National Trade Union Bloc. One of them is often in Brussels and I don’t think he has an anti-European attitude. However, both were adamant that the unions see no interest in a just transition and are not actively participating in it. This brings me to my first observation: when an organization or community recognizes its economic interest in a particular process, it is much easier to achieve because more stakeholders are involved.
There may be miners at the local level in Bulgaria who oppose the transition, but it seems that at the central level in Bulgaria, the processes are seen as an opportunity to absorb funds, which in some cases can also have a positive effect—which is why, for example, the mapping of miners’ skills and competences is being carried out. No such process is visible in Romania. The unions there oppose it because they believe that simply addressing the issue of mapping legitimizes future layoffs and will be perceived by workers as a betrayal.
Prosumers in Romania
Another interesting example related to energy is the boom of so-called prosumers in Romania – households that produce and consume their own energy. There are currently over 200,000 of them. This has been made possible by the necessary legislative and procedural measures that have allowed households to build photovoltaic installations with state funding.
According to Greenpeace Romania expert Marian Mândru, even electricity distribution companies have an interest in connecting prosumers to the grid.
If you travel around the country, especially since 2022, you will see many houses with photovoltaic panels. The state program finances their purchase, and the tenders are literally filled in a matter of minutes—for example, they open at midnight, and in just one minute, the quotas are exhausted.
But there is a catch – who are the people who manage to take advantage of this opportunity? Romania, like Bulgaria, has a large population facing energy poverty.
Those who take advantage of the opportunity to become prosumers are mainly middle-class people. The difference is that in Romania this class is more solid, more organized, and has more resources. In my opinion, this is one of the explanations for the success of this model in Romania – a critical mass of people with a clear economic interest.
When I first wrote about this topic, I remember that in Romania there was a lot of information online about how to become a prosumer – websites that explained in detail what you had to do, what documents to submit, what taxes to pay, what the relationships with electricity distribution companies were, etc. People informed each other because they were interested.
The key is the existence of a critical mass
And this brings me to my main point – when there is clear interest and a critical mass, real change happens.
I am glad that there are already energy communities in Bulgaria—there are three at present, but there could be ten. However, the emergence of prosumers in our country is slow. Perhaps the reason is that the middle class in our country is weak. In addition, as a society, we are still in a kind of information fog.
I don’t think the reason is just a lack of money. There is no clear state policy to encourage the purchase of photovoltaic panels. There is also no accessible information – it is difficult to know how to become a prosumer. In Romania, if you know Romanian and have some money, you can become a prosumer. That’s the difference.
These two examples—the just transition and prosumers—confirm, in my opinion, the old Bulgarian (and Romanian—translator’s note) proverb: “Interest wobbles the fez.” And the existence of a critical mass is decisive. Many people envy Romanians for certain things, but the truth is that in their country there are simply more areas where people have resources and motivation – and that is why change is happening.
That was my presentation. I am not a specialist in green transition, nor am I a scientist, but I am interested in the topic. I had the opportunity to talk not only with Corina Murafa, but also with the Romanian Minister of Energy, Sebastian Burduja. Romania has ambitions to strongly develop its energy sector and believes it has the resources to become energy independent in several areas.
If you think I can be of further help, please don’t hesitate to ask. If not now, I can respond by email or other means.
Questions and answers
Question: How exactly was the explosion in consumer demand in Romania possible?
In Romania, there are various situations related to constantly changing regulations. This is sometimes perceived negatively. The country tends to change the rules frequently, but one of the factors that contributed to the boom in photovoltaic systems was the lack of taxes. For years, people who are both producers and consumers simulteanously (so-called “prosumers”) did not pay taxes on the electricity they produce through solar panels.
There was a period when the introduction of a tax was discussed, but there was significant resistance to it. As far as I know, such a tax has not been introduced. Subsequently, there was also discussion about the mandatory use of storage batteries, but according to an interview with the energy minister, he denied the existence of such requirements. However, according to the environmental organization Greenpeace Romania, regulations change frequently, which appears to be an attempt to limit or slow down the process or to guarantee profits for certain interests.
I’m not saying that Romania is doing everything perfectly—there are complex interests at play in the energy sector. But in some respects, there are conditions that encourage people to install solar panels. This is seen as a good thing, especially since the cap on electricity prices will be removed on July 1, 2025. Right now, Romania subsidizes electricity for households, but it’s clear that this can’t go on forever—probably because of European Commission requirements and the liberalization process.
Under these circumstances, prosumers have a big advantage. They are not obliged to produce 100% of their own consumption. They can produce more or less. Surplus energy is bought by network operators and converted into passive income. And who doesn’t want passive income?
I saw the film Planeta Petrila. It is exceptional. The main character is Ion Barbu – cartoonist, artist, and cultural activist.
Ion Barbu is the main figure behind the Petrila Planet movement. Trade unionists also participate in the film and the movement – for example, the legendary leader of the Petrila trade union, Cătălin Cenușă, is currently a guide at the Miner’s Rescue Museum.
But the key impetus for saving the Petrila mine and searching for a post-mining future comes from the cultural initiative.
What is your perspective on the role of trade unions in the just transition in Bulgaria?
And here we come back to the issue of trust. In our project for a just transition, we met different people – including Dimitar Sabev, who is standing next to you, but also trade union leaders from Stara Zagora. There is a common pain – a lack of trust. When trade unionists are called to Sofia for talks, they often feel cheated – they are not given complete information, agreements are not respected. At the same time, many civic activists do not trust the trade unions.
As an impartial observer, I can say that there is a general lack of trust between different social groups in Bulgaria. We form closed circles where we trust each other, but at the national level there is deep mistrust. This is a structural problem, not of a single organization or sector, but of society as a whole.
There is a theory about green energy, which says that in order to develop renewable energy sources, you need good relations with your neighbors…
Yes, that’s an important point. I’m no expert on batteries or energy balance management, but from my discussions with experts, it’s clear that there’s a structural problem with electricity transmission connections between Eastern, Western, and Northern Europe. Austria and Hungary, for example, haven’t developed enough capacity in this area. This leads to high electricity prices in our region because we cannot participate effectively in the common market.
The former Romanian energy minister, Sebastian Burduja, who resigned a few days ago, fought at European level for more inter-system connections and sanctions for countries that do not show solidarity. He says that solidarity in the EU must also be measured by energy infrastructure – real connections between countries.
Photo: The conference’s poster (source: Plovdiv University, Facebook)
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