2005 - 2006 - Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2012

BULGARIA PART 2: COUNTRY ANALYSIS
Groundwater
Total recharge (1998, km 3 ) 13.4
Per capita (1998, m 3 ) 1,598
Withdrawals (1988, km 3 ) 5.0
Two 25 year concessions covering 0.67 million people in northern Bulgaria are still under
consideration, having originally been set to be privatised in 2002. Five companies have pre-qualified:
Suez, VE, Cascal (Biwater/Nuon), UU, VE and RWE (Thames). The Varna (470,000 people) and
Shumen (200,000 people) concessions involve capex of US$74 million and US$51 million
respectively.
MAJOR CITIES
Population 2000 2015 Status
Sofia 1,187,000 1,187,000 Water & sewerage services privatised
Privatisation of Sofia’s water services
ViK (Vodosnabdjavane I Kalanizatsia) was founded in 1884 and is responsible for Sofia’s water and
sewerage services. 51% of ViK’s equity was sold to International Water and United Utilities in 2000,
after a privatisation programme was developed with the EBRD in 1996. IW’s shares were acquired by
UU and the EBRD in December 2003. 1.5 million people served by the utility, including 1.2 million in
the city, with 800,000 individual metered accounts. BGN130 million was invested between 2000 and
2004 against a planned investment of BGN125 million. By 2015, BGN300 million will have been
invested in the service. The city’s 1,700km sewerage system has been extended to 2,086 km.
Distribution losses in Sofia fell from 64% in 1996 to 52% in 1997, with 30% losses by 2004. The
proportion of bills collected has increased from 75% to 90%. In March 2005, polling found broad
support for shutting supplies to non paying customers, who owe BGN34 million to the utility, 80%
being domestic and 20% being commercial and municipal clients.
Private sector contracts awarded (Please see the relevant company entry for details)
Location Contract Company
Sofia 25 year water and sewerage concession UUI
Private sector company operations (Please see the relevant company entry for details)
Company Parent company (country)
Population served
Water Sewerage Total
UUI United Utilities (UK) 1,200,000 1,200,000 1,200,000
65 Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2005 – 2006