Zhelyu Voyvoda Cropduster Strip

Primarily economic reasons. The airfield was part of a vast, state-run agricultural aviation network designed to service large, collectivized farms (TKZS). After 1989, the centrally planned economy collapsed, leading to the dissolution of these large state farms and the privatization of land. This eliminated the demand for large-scale, state-managed aerial crop-dusting, making the extensive network of specialized airstrips, including Zhelyu Voyvoda, economically obsolete and unviable.

The airfield is fully abandoned and non-operational. Satellite imagery confirms that the former runway area is completely overgrown and has been reclaimed for agricultural use, blending in with the surrounding farmland. The faint outline of the strip is still visible from above. Some of the auxiliary buildings located to the southwest of the former runway appear to be intact and are likely used for local agricultural storage or other private purposes.

The Zhelyu Voyvoda strip was a typical and essential piece of infrastructure within Bulgaria's socialist-era agricultural system. Its significance was not as a public or major military airport, but as a workhorse facility for 'Selskostopanska Aviatsiya' (Agricultural Aviation). From this strip, aircraft, most commonly the Antonov An-2 and sometimes the Zlin Z-37 Čmelák, would conduct operations such as crop dusting (pesticides and herbicides) and aerial fertilization over the vast, collectivized fields of the Sliven region, a major agricultural hub. It was crucial for implementing the state's agricultural policy and maximizing crop yields under the planned economy.

There are no known plans or realistic prospects for reopening the Zhelyu Voyvoda strip for aviation purposes. The economic and agricultural model that required its existence is gone. Modern farming in the region relies on ground-based machinery, smaller-scale private operations, and increasingly, drone technology for crop spraying, which do not require a dedicated airfield. The site is considered permanently closed.