The syndicates at Maritsa Iztok Mines have declared their readiness to start a strike over demands for higher wages for miners.

As a result, coal supplies to four power plants may be disrupted, the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reported on Monday.

The Maritsa Iztok Mines have threatened to halt coal supplies to the power plants on January 07 unless the miners get a pay rise proportional to the output increase.

The protest was scheduled for December 21 but was postponed due to the refusal of the executive director to sign an agreement on protecting the life and health of the protesting workers.

The syndicates at Maritsa Iztok Mines insist that the employer comply with the agreement signed on July 12 2011 regulating the relative share of the wage costs against the company's revenues.

Evgeni Stoykov, CEO of the Maritsa Iztok Mines, allegedly withdrew his signature from the paper despite the expected BGN 500 M revenues of the company.

A three-member committee of the National Institute for Conciliation and Arbitration held a session on December 29 on the matter.

On Christmas Eve, all of the 7100 workers received bonuses of over BGN 1000, which they said had nothing to do with the agreement sealed in the summer.

Voicing hopes that the employer will fulfill his commitments, syndicate representatives warned that thermal plants had coal reserves for some ten days of working at full capacity.