Meeting with lawyer Tsvetan in Varna

Today we expected Maya from BHC at 10:00, but she fell ill and we postponed the meeting until Friday. We need to discuss the maintenance of the complex in Byala, and try to arrange a meeting with all the owners.
But since this meeting was postponed, we had more time to go to our second meeting with lawyer Tsvetan in Varna. We were there quite precisely at 12:00.

Not much has happened in terms of progress in Solnik. It has been very depressing to say the least. That mood was probably very evident when we arrived at his office. Eventually, Eve also arrived, who is a fantastic help when it comes to translation. Tsvetan has become much better at English, so it is not as difficult to communicate with him now as before. The funny thing is that I can pick up the context or the theme when the two talk to each other in Bulgarian. It doesn’t take many words before you understand what they are talking about.

Poor Tsvetan is trying to explain all the delays we have experienced with the processes in Bulgaria. Things don’t move fast enough here compared to my watch. This has meant that we have started to look for other opportunities in Bulgaria. Eve also tries her best to encourage us. It’s hard to describe, but it’s a feeling that’s hard to hide, while at the same time you feel like you’re acting like a kid. And it is not Tsvetan’s fault that things are going slowly. He does everything he can for us. But time is running out, that is a fact. I have to have a house to move to next year, start life in Bulgaria, dig in the soil, plant vegetables, clean the garden. All the things that we dream of getting started with.

While we are sitting there, Tsvetan tries several times to get in touch with planning and building department in the municipally of Dolni Chiflik, who must approve all the documents in order to proceed with the building permit. But no answer, or busy signal. But then suddenly at the end of the meeting, the person calls up and says that all the documents have been approved and can be collected. That cheers me up a bit, and Tsvetan promises to drive once more to Dolni Chiflik to collect these. A happy news. But now the process of getting the building permit can start. It can take up to 2 months, after all the technical details are in place, power, water and electricity. So I’m still not entirely optimistic. Jorunn asks how long it takes to set up the house. Tsvetan calls one of those who have made an offer, and he says 90 days for the raw building and 90 days for the finished building. That means construction will take half a year after the building permit has been granted. I think it could easily take a year or so. It’s too long by my watch.

What is frustrating in such building processes in Bulgaria, is that everything has to go in a kind of chain connection. Nothing can be done simultaneously or in parallel. The process with a building permit could not start because the merger of the two plots had been approved. The building permit process cannot start until water, electricity and sewage have been reviewed and approved by the various agencies. Only when the building permit is ready will the various construction companies make offers. So all this we take time.

So now the process just has to be allowed to continue and we have to consider whether we can bear to wait any longer. Maybe it’s better to find a new place that is ready to move into and just get on with life down here. One positive feedback was that the price of iron has fallen even more recently, so the possibility of better offers is greater now. But we won’t know that for a couple of months.