Our aim is to provide rules and good environment for the development of economy, for the individual activity of the entities

Mr. Ivan Asparuhov, Mayor of Mezdra Municipality

Mr. Asparuhov, you are serving your second term as Mayor. You are a member of the Steering Committee of the National Association of Municipalities. How do you assess the change in the municipality government, in its statute ensuing from the act of our EU accession?
In drafting the strategy for development of the municipality, we set ourselves the goals, which we have to effect as a member of the European Union. The main line was to make the Municipality of Mezdra an attractive place, provided with all utilities for living, working and recreation of our citizens. We are still working for the transformation of Mezdra into a modern European town. We started with the improvement of the infrastructure and the environment; the issue of drinking water shortage was solved here and in another six settlements, we supplied the municipal centre with gas. We have completed a number of infrastructure sites. This gives confidence to the people, who recognize their responsibilities, not only as municipal leaders and officials, but also as worthy citizens of our Republic, as true Europeans, as part of the history and culture of the Old Continent.

The Municipality, as a notion, stands above the needs and interests of the common people. The question is, however, how will the common people change their way of life, what will be the fresh beginning in their ordinary day?
The ordinary citizens suffered most from the cataclysms during the development of the democratic processes. Serious changes have occurred in our economy as a whole. The economic pillars of the municipality collapsed, whole industrial sectors were liquidated, like the non-ferrous metallurgy or the two electronics plants, for example. Organized agriculture also broke down, and a great number of people remained unemployed and far from their specialties and professional skills. The general re-orientation of economic life in the municipality had to comply with the specific character of the transition situation. This is why now, besides all other sectors that we are striving to develop, we have added a new one – tourism, which is new to this region. We’ve already rediscovered all those places and sites that bear the quality of a tourist product and can be further developed. But it will take a lot of hard work before the tourism sector becomes business for the people in the municipality.

Historically, the town has grown because of the railway.
And we keep looking for opportunities for development of the railway transport as a sector of the municipal economy, together with its accompanying divisions. An important factor is our location near the highway, which is to undergo changes and improvements too.

But could we say that some of the municipal economy areas have been developed?
Yes, the quarrying of the famous Vratsa Stone. There are deposits in the vicinity, quarries have been developed. This is a traditional occupation for our region.

In the opinion of Bulgarian and European experts, the quarrying and processing of rock materials will define the image of our municipality in the future. This requires a transformation in the education system, the training of qualified staff for this industry.

What is the present unemployment rate?
Mezdra Municipality has a rather high proportion of active population. The shrinking of the industrial sector naturally caused high unemployment. The peak was four years ago when we had 27% unemployed. With the help of various projects we managed to bring this figure down to 10.89%. But here we run into the requirements of the business for skilled workers. We are talking about specialists in the field of excavation and processing of rock materials. We already have over 20 companies with 30 to 50 employees. They exhausted the potential of professionals in the field. Now there are no secondary vocational schools, and therefore there are no mining specialists. These companies have introduced new equipment for prospecting, quarrying and processing, which requires serious maintenance but it turns out we are short of electricians and mechanics.

There used to be a good light industry as well.
We did manage to preserve the traditions in brewing. Textile production is also reviving with new and modern technologies and although we have a specialized school and training courses are organized all the time, we still have a shortage of skilled workers.

The main question is how to anticipate the labour demand in the productions that could be developed in our municipality.

We are discussing these problems with the Ministry of Education, so that secondary education could produce qualified specialists for the local business.

What are the concrete projects that guarantee investments in the municipality?
Already in the pre-accession period we worked hard on the participation in the pre-accession funds and we succeeded in providing resource for training in the matter of project management after the accession, which is now yielding positive results. On the eve of the accession we won two projects – one is the Kaleto Tourist Complex, which gives us an idea of how to combine private partnership and state interest. The other project is in the field of international cooperation and we are now expecting a delegation from Italy.

We have made substantial progress in improving the urban environment and living conditions. Issues concerning the layout of squares were solved; ecological projects are underway as well as the building of a water-purification plant; we participate in tourism projects in the area of the Cherepish Monastery, in the building of the complex Dyado Yotso Gleda. Besides being a tourist site, it is also the centre of an annual folklore fair. We take part in national programs such as the program for development of rural areas and we are now going to encompass a bigger part of the villages.

What are the plans regarding construction in the municipality?
We already have 26 kilometres of gas pipeline and the gas reaches a large part of the households. The gas network is to be extended; the streets in the city centre and the country roads will be reconstructed; an overall renovation of the city square will be made.

The project for a big sports complex to the west of Toplivo company, for which funds have been secured, gained currency acceptance and the interest is justified. This will be the biggest indoor sports hall in the territory of Northwest Bulgaria. In this way, the recreation area, after completion of the reconstruction around the former railway to Vidin, will be linked to this unique sports facility.

Is municipal industry being developed in Mezdra?
I don’t think creating an industry on behalf of some community is a solution to the problem, but the provision of rules and good environment for the development of economy, for the individual activity of the entities.

Isn’t tourism one of the lines?
We still don’t have a tradition. We are seeking and creating conditions for various types of tourist products, but it is hard to build up a mentality. Our region used to be industrially developed, therefore people’s attitudes are different from what the sphere of the services requires. And services are essential for tourism. So, people have to learn how to provide such services.

Perhaps the Dyado Yotso Gleda complex is one of the first steps?
Not only the complex, which offers various opportunities in the field of tourism, but also the Cherepish Monastery, which was repaired with the support of the municipality. By restoring the Vazov corners we sought to come in touch with history and culture. And although we haven’t launched a serious advertising campaign yet, in just one year the monastery, the beautiful gorge and Ritlite have been visited by as many people as had visited them in decades. Furthermore, in the uncompleted youth house in the village of Lyuti Brod we set up an ethnographic museum, or rather a collection.

“Mezra” means a deserted place…
The layers uncovered in the excavations reveal quite a turbulent life dating back thousands of years – the foundations of a temple, of a sanctuary, of cult buildings. Evidently this was a centre of active political and economic life still back in the pre-Roman times. Nearby in the villages of Gorna and Dolna Kremena there are the Roman baths. Some of the coins found have never been used, which probably means they were minted hereabouts, that the government, the seat of the central power was here. Under the town, in its southern part have been discovered remains of colonnades and big buildings, so history has a lot more to tell us. If due to some circumstances this place was really deserted and desolate, it is brimming with life now.