Minister Avramova met with the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović

The Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works strives to create conditions for a better and more dignified life for all Bulgarian citizens – by beautifying cities and improving the living environment, by ensuring connectivity and reducing disparities between settlements so that people can work everywhere, learn and develop successfully. This was commented by the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Petya Avramova at a meeting today with the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović.

Several departments have a targeted policy to support the integration process of vulnerable groups. Together with the municipalities under the Operational Programme “Regions in Growth” projects worth BGN 28 million are being implemented, which will provide conditions for accommodation in 663 social housings, said Deputy Minister Denitsa Nikolova.

The state’s policy is complex and it is not focused solely on providing housing. Efforts are being made to better educate children from vulnerable groups so that they can be successful at the labour market. Several institutions are working in this direction and 40,000 children have been returned to school, Minister Avramova added.

The ministry is working on changes in the spatial planning, state property and municipal property acts. The aim is to introduce an obligation to assess proportionality in administrative proceedings in order to prevent disproportionate interference with the privacy of people in buildings to be demolished. The proposed changes provide for the postponement of the demolition order for illegal constructions in cases where the construction is used as the only home. It will also be assessed whether the buildings are inhabited by minors, as well as by persons with permanent disabilities, as well as what are the possibilities for providing suitable alternative accommodation. When the assessment of these circumstances reveals a disproportion between personal and public interest in the demolition of the illegal construction used as the only home, the head of the Directorate for National Construction Control, respectively the mayor, will suspend the proceedings for issuing an demolition order. The Minister stressed that all citizens, regardless of gender, race and religion, must abide by the law.