“I have requested a report on what contracts were signed outside their direct duties, because we want to see where the money is leaking. It is clear where the water is leaking. The question now is where the money is leaking.“ This was said by the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Ivan Shishkov in response to a question from the media about whether the Water Supply and Sewerage companies in the country are prosecutorial. And he announced that a press conference is coming up, at which information about “leaks“ through “Bulgarian Water Supply and Sewerage Holding“ EAD in connection with the purchase of electricity will be presented.
The Regional Minister was in Pleven today in connection with the situation with the water supply in the Pleven and Lovech districts. There he discussed actions to overcome the problems with the regional governors of the two regions - Ivan Petkov and Plamen Hristov, the mayors of Pleven and Lovech - Valentin Hristov and Stratsimir Petkov and the managers of the water and sanitation operators for these regions. The meeting was also attended by MPs, the executive director of “Bulgarian Water and Sanitation Holding“ EAD Eng. Venelin Shykov and Eng. Ventsislav Angelov - member of the Management Board of the “Road Infrastructure“ Agency. The visit is part of the initiative of the MRDPW “The Regions Speak“.
There are long-term, medium-term and measures that we can take immediately for the problem of water supply in Pleven, said Ivan Shishkov. He added that this year the regime has been broken not only due to the kindness of nature, but also because of the actions taken. Work is underway to secure the sources in the three areas around Pleven. Investments are to be made for additional humidification of the water supply system "Bivolare", which is one of the serious alternatives for the upper part of the city. Currently, a new water supply pipeline for Pleven and Lovech is being commissioned, because the old one is 50 years old and in poor condition, and the water resource must be saved. In addition, the route of the old water supply pipeline cannot be used because it passes through private properties and buildings. "This is part of the construction heritage in Bulgaria, which was done without any thought," said Ivan Shishkov. He added that a survey is currently being conducted to show whether a treatment plant can be built that would allow the use of the "Gorni Dabnik" dam for water supply. The minister expressed his expectation that all problems will be resolved step by step. Ivan Shishkov pointed out that the inspections carried out so far show different reasons for them, but also similarities such as lack of maintenance for some of the water sources, wells, pumps and boreholes. “This is also part of the problem that caused the crisis in Pleven over the past 2 years. Negligence towards the maintenance of the infrastructure was a national policy“, he said.
In response to a question about how long it will take to normalize the water supply situation in Bulgaria, so as not to talk about the water regime, Minister Shishkov expressed his expectation that this will happen in several years. During this period, intensive design and construction will be carried out. However, he stressed that at today's meeting it became clear that some of the water supply pipes have not been filled, do not have an easement and there is a problem with access to make repairs. “Not only is there outdated infrastructure, but we don't even know where it is“, he added.
The minister also commented that the price of water for Bulgarian citizens is not cheap, because meaningful repairs are not being made and European funds have not been used to their full potential, such as the case in Shumen announced earlier today. Therefore, there needs to be a balance between social tolerance, which is required by law, and the necessary investments.
“A prosecutor's file - that's what awaits us. That's absolutely certain. You don't think that the situation with Shumen and the water supply system will go away without a prosecutor's file, do you? We hope that the prosecutor's office will start working. Because the “Hemus“ highway is there. Now it turns out that a large part of the water supply and sanitation sector in Northern Bulgaria will go there. As if someone in this region deliberately tried only to steal. "Not to build, to do something meaningful," the minister said.
Regarding the signals in the prosecutor's office for sections 4 and 5 of the "Hemus" motorway, Ivan Shishkov reminded that he had done everything possible, including holding a meeting with the acting prosecutor general, at which he appealed to the prosecutor's office to complete the inspections. He expressed his expectation for the issuance of indictments that would clarify the situation in society, and for the construction of the motorway to continue.
“We did something to gain time and save money for Bulgarian citizens“, the regional minister also said regarding the terminated engineering order for the Byala - Veliko Tarnovo section of the future “Ruse - Veliko Tarnovo highway. And he pointed out that otherwise the situation with the “Hemus“ highway would have been repeated, where “we don't do PUPs, we don't do procedures, but we want to make orders and distribute the money forward“.
“The second lot of “Hemus“ is nowhere, it hasn't reached Pleven, Lovech. The stories from the jeep brought us to the point where we have the first and third lots and don't have the second. Then we have illegal construction on the fourth lot, we have nothing in the fifth and sixth lots. For the seventh and eighth lots, we only have money given away, nothing more. Of course, money was given away for the other lots as well. One person was convincing us how much he was building. I personally was one of those who were lied to. The second lot is in a very early stage“, the minister explained in response to a question about the construction of the highway. He added that the delay in the construction of section 2 makes the route to the intersection with the Pleven - Lovech road pointless. “It is pointless to build the 9th lot, because since we do not have a project for the 7th and 8th, we will give some money and build a highway that will end up in nowhere”, Shishkov emphasized. A working meeting is scheduled for next week to discuss actions to begin real design of the Pleven bypass, he also announced.