2005 - 2006 - Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2012

BULGARIA PART 2: COUNTRY ANALYSIS
treatment plants are currently incomplete because of the problems in obtaining suitable funding. The
government believes that it will take some decades to address the country’s water infrastructure
shortfalls. The government has identified the construction of a series of tertiary treatment facilities as
one of its main current priorities.
Development of sewage treatment
Sewerage and sewage treatment 1993 1998 2003
Tertiary 0.0% 0.8% 1.0%
Secondary 34.4% 35.0% 37.0%
Primary 0.7% 0.9% 2.0%
Sewerage only 31.4% 30.0% N/A
Not connected 33.5% 33.3% N/A
Bulgaria is set to join the EU in 2007. According to the Government, it needs BGL6.8 billion (€3.6
billion) to modernise its water supply and sewerage systems to comply with European Union
standards. BGL3.37 billion (€1.77 billion) is needed for the rehabilitation of the water supply network
and reduction of water losses. The Ministry plans to construct sewerage systems in cities of more
than 30,000 people and to build wastewater treatment plants for BGL3.4 billion (€1.8 billion). The
government hopes to raise at least 40% of the required funds through private investment in the form
of concessions, operation and management contracts, and JVs. The remainder would come from
grants and loans from the EU ISPA programme and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Implementation of the improvements will be the task of an executive agency for water supply and
sewerage to be established by the Ministry for Regional Development and Public Works.
The length of the urban sewerage network in 2001 was 7,718 km against 400 km in villages. The
number of settlements connected to a sewerage system that year was 272: 167 cities and 105
villages. The sewerage system covers 48.5% of the total length of cities’ streets, in villages this
percent is 0.6%. Sewers are of a mixed type, mainly with concrete and steel-concrete pipes. Over
20% of sewers need to be replaced. Up to now 62 urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) have
been constructed, from which 11 have only mechanical treatment of the water and 51 have also
biological treatment. They service over 53 populated areas and 40% of the population of the country.
Bulgaria’s “National Programme for Priority Construction of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants” for
settlements of over 10,000 population equivalent (1999-2014), adopted in 1999 by the Council of
Ministers entails the construction of 81 new wastewater treatment plants and the rehabilitation and
upgrading of 23 operating plants. Out of the 104 priority facilities, 36 should be built and
reconstructed up to 2007. Investment needed is about € 550 million. This Programme is currently
being updated to include settlements with population equivalent between 2,000 and 10,000.
According to the Implementation Programme until 2014, € 2,218 million is needed for building the
sewerage systems and waste water treatment plants for all 430 agglomerations that are within the
scope of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive.
Freshwater
Total (1998, km 3 ) 18.0
Per capita (1998, m 3 ) 2,146
Withdrawals (1988, km 3 ) 13.9
For domestic use (1987) 3%
For industry (1987) 76%
For agriculture (1987) 22%
Privatisation and investment
The EBRD is carrying out a number of projects concerned with its Danube River Basin plan (DDEMP -
Danube Delta Environmental Management Programme) for the Sofia Municipality and a number of
other towns for developing initiatives for the financing of non-sovereign projects for water provision
and effluent treatment. Currently the main objective is to develop methods of financing investment
into infrastructure. The EU’s ISPA has provided grants worth €238 million for 16 projects with a total
value of €330 million. Structural funding worth €2,300 million will be made available between 2007
and 2009 as part of the EU Accession process. Since 1998, state controlled water companies have
been restructured into corporatised entities with 49% of their equity transferred from the state to the
municipalities.
64 Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2005 – 2006