The sharp criticism made by the Minister of Environment and Water earlier today, as expected, was covered with comments and statements, and at the same time the result is there. As Iskra.bg informed you, Emil Dimitrov was adamant that in six months Burgas will fall into a water crisis because there will be no resource for domestic and drinking water supply. At the same time, no one did anything about it. No work was done all summer, not even the first sod was dug, although Dimitrov went to the seaside town three times on this occasion. A PR man was expected to say when it was appropriate, so Revisoro accused the country of being run by PR people.
In response to these harsh criticisms, Agriculture and Food Minister Desislava Taneva announced that her colleague was affected because he had COVID-19. She found out about it this week, having a conversation with him on Monday that lasted more than 50 minutes. Then they came up with a common vision and according to Taneva there was no problem, and the accusations were baseless. She said she was surprised by Dimitrov’s statement this morning in parliament.
Taneva announced that the mayor of Burgas, Dimitar Nikolov, contacted her some time ago with a request to provide available archival documentation for another dam with the tendency to use it to provide drinking water. Thus, she responded to Dimitrov’s accusation that at the moment Nikolov takes the position of a spectator only in this process.
For his part, the regional governor of Burgas, Valcho Cholakov, accused the entire government of deciding for three months to transfer the dams „Aheloy“ and „Poroy“ to the regional government. For its part, it will transfer them to the water supply and sewerage so that they can be repaired and possibly used to supply water to the city’s residents. Currently, both dams are used only for irrigation. The Water and Sewerage Company said that they worked on the dams to prepare the project for their repair. Detailed development plans and surveys of the terrain were made, including with divers.
Despite all these allegations, the facts known so far, however, prove Dimitrov’s allegations that there is a problem, because no one denies that a water regime can be reached in Burgas in the foreseeable future.
A little later, the government’s information service announced that the Minister of Environment and Water had informed Prime Minister Boyko Borissov that there would be no water crisis, Dnes.bg reported. He briefed him on the situation in Burgas and the measures that would be taken in the coming months. EUR 100 million was provided for in the Recovery Plan for Irrigation Systems. Borissov had pointed out that his only criticism of Dimitrov was that he had not informed him of the problems as early as Wednesday’s meeting of the Council of Ministers. At the same time, the minister demanded that his deputy, Atanaska Nikolova, be relieved of her post and that two new deputy ministers be appointed.
