site.btaRecovery Plan to Support 13 Waste Water Treatment Projects in Smaller Settlements

Thirteen waste water treatment plants will be built or rehabilitated in small and medium settlements. The campaign will use 471.6 million leva in EU and national funding under Bulgaria's Recovery and Resilience Plan, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRDPW) said on Monday.

The settlements are Devnya, General Toshevo, Pavel Banya, Dulovo, Ahtopol, Krumovgrad, Devin, Galabovo, Straldja, Dolni Chiflik, Saedinenie, Kotel and Rogosh-Skutare. The population of these places is between 5,000 and 10,000 each, which makes them ineligible to bid for funding for waste water treatment plants under any of the Operational Programmes. The necessary investments are beyond the capacity of the local water and sewerage operators and the municipal authorities, the ministry explained.

Another 11 waste water treatment plants are being built or rehabilitated under Operational Programme Environment 2014-2020. They are in larger towns and cities. The projects to be funded under Operational Programme Environment 2021-2027 are yet to be specified. The programme has a budget of 1.5 billion leva.

In addition to the money available for water quality projects under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, MRDPW also anticipates the establishment of a fund to support municipalities in improving their water and sewerage infrastructure. The fund's budget will amount to 250 million leva.