Blagoevgrad Province

Lot 2 of the Struma motorway will most probably be completed by the autumn of 2015, according to Bulgaria's caretaker Regional Development Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva.

Zaharieva inspected Tuesday the 37.5km motorway section from Dupnitsa to Blagoevgrad.

Police has destroyed almost 10 tonnes of cannabis near southern Bulgarian town of Petrich, said the Blagoevgrad directorate of the Interior Ministry.

Acting on tips from informants, police found 532 marijuana plants near the village of Krandzhilnitsa, which weighed more than 7 tonnes. The owner of the land plot is yet unidentified. 

Nearly 14 tonnes of cannabis plants were found and destroyed in a police raid in the village of Lebnitsa in Southwest Bulgaria, the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior in Blagoevgrad reported.

Police have detected cannabis weighing over 3600kg in two operations in fields near the village of Dragush, Petrich District, and the village of Laki, Gotse Delchev District.

The 17-th edition of the popular International Jazz Festival starts in Bulgaria's mountain resort town Bansko on Friday.

The concerts are free for the public and the festival is organised with the aid of sponsors.

The first stage of the selection of a contractor for two sections of lot 3 of the Struma motorway has started.

The National Company Strategic Infrastructure Projects (NCSIP) has launched tenders for the designing and construction of the motorway sections Blagoevgrad – Krupnik, including a 2km tunnel at the village of Zheleznitsa and Kresna – Sandanski.

Tests of the local health inspectorate in Blagoevgrad have indicated the presence of radioactive water in a drinking water pipe in the village of Krastiltsi.

According to reports of the Bulgarian National Radio, the laboratory tests were made on a tip-off of locals.

Five people, of which one fire fighter, were injured in a fire in Bulgaria's mountain resort Bansko on Wednesday night, reports BGNES. 

The fire started from an exploded gas bottle which set alight a coal shed and the house right next to it. 

Two cars, parked in front of the house also burned down. 

The Ministry of Social Affairs said it was “thoroughly” investigating the case and that it had launched disciplinary measures against social workers in the town of Bitola who were in charge of assessing the boy, named Leon, whose age has not been revealed. 

Lot 2 of the Struma motorway is to be ready in March 2015, according to Bulgarian Regional Development Minister Desislava Terzieva.

Speaking during an inspection of the motorway section on Monday, she said that her first impressions of the construction works were excellent and that everything was going to schedule.