“The inspectorate of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRDPW) will begin checking the activity of the Varna Water and Sewerage Utility over the last year and a half,” MRDPW Rosen Plevneliev said yesterday at an international conference on cooperation in the Black Sea region. He explained that the experts’ inspection will focus on the contract signed between the public utility and the private operator Golden Sands. According to Plevneliev, it must be established whether the Varna Water and Sewerage Utility has issued invoices for payment of water at prices other than those fixed by the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC). At the beginning of June, the two utilities signed a contract for the transfer of the entire water supply and sewerage network for management by the public company. The public utility should pay for this BGN 400,000, VAT excluded, to Golden Sands by the end of 2011. The contract expires at the end of May 2011. The Varna utility is entitled to get all the proceeds from the sale of water services. Such a contract is subject to approval by the principal of the public company - in this case the MRDPW but its press office stated the inquiry was just beginning and no further information on the case could be given.
Source: Class (21.10.2010)