The investor behind a small hydropower plant in the village of Rakita on Stara Planina, against which 162 of the 200 adult residents signed a petition; according to Vreme, its private security clashed with locals almost daily while the police looked on passively. The Ministry of Environmental Protection banned the works in 2019 and ordered the pipes removed from the riverbed, but the works continued and the state did not enforce its own decision. The investor denies any threats or violence.