Sofia Sees Repeat of Tomato Revolution, Eagles Bridge Blocked

Tens of thousands of disgruntled citizens of Sofia gathered on Sunday in front of parliament and threw tomatoes and apples at it in protest against the excesses of power and heating utilities.

Later on the protesters blocked Eagles' Bridge.

Another rally was staged at Bulgaria's Economy Ministry, with participating protesters of all ages, including mothers with young kid.

The protesters were chanting "mafia" under the windows of the ministry building blockading traffic on the Rakosvki Str.

The demonstrators demand the nationalization of Bulgaria's three power utilities – CEZ, EVN, and Energo-Pro, with the National Electric Company NEK assuming their responsibilities, the publication of all secret contracts in Bulgaria's energy sector, holding those who signed secret energy contracts responsible, abolishing NEK's obligation to buy out any produced electricity, as well as individual contracts with Sofia heating utility Toplofikatsiya that can be terminated on a month's notice.

On 14 November, Nikolay Kolev, a Bulgarian poet with a Tolstoyan beard, wrote to his country's six leading institutions with his plans to throw a tomato at each.

After Kolev's first tomato hit the parliament, 40 policemen pounced, and arrested him. But demonstrations against corruption, which social networking sites called the tomato revolution, followed soon.