Workers at Mina Cherno More Burgas EAD (Cherno More Mine EAD) staged a 1-hour protest on Tuesday over unpaid salaries for the months of July and August.

Workers at the mine had threatened to stage an underground protest unless their demands are met within three days, according to reports of the Bulgarian National Radio.

Rostislav Radukov, Chair of the miners' trade union at the "Podkrepa" Labor Confederation, explained Tuesday that the protest targeted Bulgaria's state-owned National Electric Company (NEK), which was not making payments to a thermal power plant (TPP), thereby rendering the TPP unable to transfer money to the mine, which was forced to leave its workers without salaries.

He said that the first stage of the protest would include going underground with a one-hour delay for each shift, with the next demonstration on Tuesday expected at 16:00 EEST.