Бизнес

The "cynical publication" (according to the definition of Dr. Ilsa Popova, with which there is no reason to agree) of the newspaper "Tempo" on the problems of the closed Velyova Banya played the role of feedback between the powerful and the citizens. The publication brought to the agenda an issue that excites hundreds of people from Velikograd, was included in the topics of the October session of the Municipal Council and provoked a debate.
On October 27, the councillors heard from Dr. Ilza Popova, Director of SBR-NK EAD - Velingrad branch. She highlighted three aspects of the Velyova Banya problem: social, legal and technical. The social importance of the bathroom and the public interest in it to work is huge, reported Dr. Popova. The legal aspect is related to the registration of the 100 percent state-owned joint-stock company "Specialized Hospitals for Rehabilitation - National Complex", whose principal is the Minister of Health. The company is the successor of the former Sanitary Resort Complex (SCC), which has combined balneotherapy, resort polyclinics and bases for recreation and treatment of workers. But the subject of activity of SBR-NK EAD is the provision of hospital medical care - that is, the baths owned by the company are far from its subject of activity.
The technical aspect of the problem is related to the condition of the building of Velyova Banya. Since 1996. every year Dr. Popova submits a proposal to the management of the company for a major renovation of the roof and the building. However, repairs were not carried out and were required in early June 2005. the bathroom to be closed, as the crumbling roof endangers the life and health of visitors. Since Velyova banya is a monument of culture, the roof must be repaired not partially, but completely and in compliance with the old plan and without architectural change. After the August floods, the problem deepened and the amount needed to repair the roof and the building rose to BGN 100 thousand. This is the figure according to experts of the state firm. The claims that the privatization of the bathroom is being prepared are not true, said Dr. Popova.
She also announced that the opinion of the Board of Directors of SBR-NK is to start negotiations with the municipality of Velingrad in order to find a rational option for the three state baths in the resort: Velyova, Syrna and Kremuchna. We are open to negotiations with the municipality if it shows initiative to transfer ownership of the baths, said Dr. Popova. According to her, this can be done if the municipality with a motivated letter to the Minister of Health declares interest to take ownership of the three bathrooms. Such a file he led as Mayor G. Avramov, and in 1998. The municipal council voted to replace a municipal plot for Velyova banya, but the decision was not implemented. To this fact returned G. Mihailov, asking who from the municipality did not do their job because the then health minister P. Boyadzhiev issued an order for the change.
The seven baths in Velingrad have been municipal since their inception and are monuments of culture, recalled Snezhana Veleva. She asked what kind of resort is Velingrad without its bathrooms and insisted that Mayor Dulev take the first step by asking the Ministry of Health the municipality to become the owner of Velyova, Sulfur and Kremuchna banya. A dispute also arose about the possibility of Velyova Banya to be repaired under the project "Beautiful Bulgaria". Dr. Ilsa Popova categorically rejected this possibility and said that if the work on this project depends on her signature, she will not put it. The reason: as yet outstanding payments for the repair of Sulfur Bath, for which Dr. Popova and Sn. Veleva argued which institution owed money. For 7 months Velyova banya stands unlooked, all the glass is broken, the gutters are broken, said a citizen from the neighborhood around the bathroom. Therefore, people doubt that privatization of the bathroom is being prepared and pensioners have offered to raise money for the roof repair materials and with their own labor to clean the bathroom.
The discussion ended with a decision of the Municipal Council the municipality to make a request to receive the ownership of the three state baths. However, this is a long procedure with an unclear end - if the municipality becomes the owner of the baths, it will also have no money to manage them and will most likely give them on concession to private companies, as it did with the three municipal baths - Kalna, Chepinska and Zhenska. Upon mobilization of the municipal leadership, it is possible to intensify the search for a solution. On November 4 in Velingrad is expected to be the new Minister of Health Dr. R. Gaidarski to personally familiarize himself on the spot with the condition of Velyova banya.
Outside of the future "municipal-ministry" dialogue, the problem of where people from the neighborhood around Velyova Banya will bathe this winter and how the closed building will continue to crumble remains. The little reassurance is that the SBR-NK put in the bathroom a security system against theft.
Elena Baeva