Petar Dimitrov

The ongoing drought in Bulgaria is attributed to record-high temperatures and outdated infrastructure, according to Acting Minister of Environment and Waters, Petar Dimitrov. He presented his assessment during a hearing before the National Assembly, where he was joined by Minister of Agriculture, Georgi Tahov, and Regional Minister, Violeta Koritarova.

More than 300 settlements across Bulgaria are currently on a water regime, affecting nearly 500,000 people. Recent assessments indicate a significant reduction in water reserves in dams compared to last summer, with some reservoirs now at only 2 percent of their full capacity.

Today is the Day of National Mourning for the victims of the floods in Tsarevo. Four people lost their lives in the water element.

An Interdepartmental Temporary Commission is expected to be announced and formed at the government meeting today in order to establish the causes of the severe consequences of the natural disaster.

Bulgaria's Military Prosecutor's Office said on Tuesday that it has charged an unnamed number of defence ministry employees with deliberate dereliction of duty which cost the state over two million leva (around a million euros).

Former Energy Minister Delyan Dobrev has become the third minister to be indicted over the abandoned Belene nuclear power plant (NPP) project.

Rumen Ovcharov, a former Energy Minister and Bulgarian representative in the Lukoil refinery's supervisory board, has been indicted on abeyance charges, BGNES wire service reports.

Earlier on Thursday, Ovcharov was summoned to the Sofia investigative office and is expected to be handed an indictment on Thursday in relation to the Belene nuclear power plant (NPP) project.

Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova has denied Delyan Dobrev, who served under GERB's first government, committed any wrongdoing in relation to the Belene nuclear power plant (NPP).

Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov demanded that Dobrev's immunity be lifted amid a probe into Belene NPP.

Sofia City Prosecutors have charged former minister Petar Dimitrov with deliberately failing to apply the necessary controls over the work of two former CEOs of the state-owned National Electric Company, or NEC.

BSP leader Korneliya Ninova has accused GERB of putting pre-election pressure on the opposition.

Petar Dimitrov, a former Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Energy, has been indicted over the sale of old equipment made for the ditched Belene plant to the Russian company involved in the project.