One of Bulgaria's leading laser experts, Plamen Yankov, has become very hot under the collar at a recent decision by Veliko Turnovo's local authority. The municipality has decided to grant a commission for a laser in the town's prestigious son et lumiere show at Tsarevets to a company called Artcom.

Yankov, a lecturer at Sofia's Technical University, whose company came second in the bidding, claims that "the committee decided on a laser that does not meet the required parameters and is not compatible with the other pieces of equipment. The subtle plan is then to assign a new procurement for their replacement, which will cost a lot of money. If that laser is installed, the light and sound show, which I have been maintaining for 10 years for free, will have to stop".

Yankov has challenged the authority's decision on the grounds that "the public procurement was done in violation of the law, and the candidate who was approved does not meet the requirements or the criteria for assessment of the offers and has not been assessed by more than two people with the required qualifications. All this resulted in discrediting the procedure, which is why the order of the mayor that assigned the procurement to Artcom should be cancelled".

He has submitted his appeal to the chairman of the municipal council in Veliko Turnovo, Nikolai Tachev. As a well-known expert in the field of lasers, Yankov's views carry a lot of weight and could cause a national scandal to erupt.

The son et lumiere, focused around the impressive Tsarevets Citadel, rivals the best of this sort of display anywhere in the world. It generates a great deal of tourism in the region and anything endangering the show is a distinct threat to the local, if not national, economy.

A mixed bag of tourists - Americans, Brits, Germans and Japanese - comes for the production. On one memorable occasion, some Japanese ladies were clothed in traditional kimonos, lending a truly surrealistic feel to the evening.

The citadel dates back to the 12th century. It was one of two fortresses that guarded the former rulers of Bulgaria in the tsar's palace located at the site. The citadel, usually depicted during a son et lumiere, has almost become iconic, appearing on virtually every postcard depicting Veliko Turnovo, displayed prominently in tourist publications and on numerous websites. One local suggested that disrupting the show would be like "ripping the beating heart from the city".

Mayor Rashev may already be regretting the decision to award the contract to Artcom. It's certainly likely to provoke a lot of debate and heated discussions, especially if Yankov's appeal is disregarded, only for it to transpire that his predictions on the unsuitability of the equipment on order proves correct and the show is ultimately disrupted.