An ecological inspection in Varna imposed a pecuniary fine of BGN 6 000 to Water Supply and Sewerag-Zlatni pyasatsi LTD - Varna due to polluting the sea. The capacity of the refining station does not respond to the bed-base in the resort. An appropriate project is to make the station a pump one and to return the waters to the town’s refining station in Varna. Some BGN 10 mln will be necessary for its realization, which could be supplied by the state budget.
Source: Sega (03.11.2004)

Waste waters overflowed the hotels in the first line of the Golden Sands resort after the torrential rain which flooded the region. Due to the unbearable stench, tourists are threatening they would never come to Bulgaria for their holidays again. Hotel-owners did not allow our team to take pictures of the damages, afraid of losing clients. This happens every time there is a big rain, the hotel-managers say refusing to be pictured.
Source: National television (23.08.2005)

The so far held investigations about the ownership of the Water and Sewerage Companies (ViK) throughout the country showed that the there were tens of private companies operating in this field in Bulgaria as their number will probably grow over 100. New companies constantly turn up and the investigations have not yet finished, Mr. Lyutskan Dalakchiev, member of the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation, said. A few weeks ago the Commission, obliged by law to regulate this sector, started researching how many and which are the companies it should control. It occurred that the situation was even more complex that it looked like in the beginning as for most of the companies it is not clear if they should be treated as ViK operators or not. Mr. Dalakchiev pointed for example some privatized companies having wastewater treatment plants in their assets. Their new owners are selling water to the customers. This is happening in the Kitka – Novi Pazar plant, which has three owners, as one of them has been selling water to the rest two. If the Water Law is applied this company should report to the Commission and to wait permission for price change. A similar case is observed in a part of Sevlievo’s ViK network. In some other places the wastewater treatment plants supply water to the respective settlement what is the case with the former Bolshevik plant im Gabrovo which is bought by an Austrian company. Third problem was formed by the private ViK networks such as the one in Golden Sands. In Vratsa and Razgrad regions the Commission members came upon two small ViK companies owned by the respective town councils, i.e. they are neither municipal, nor private or state ownership.
Source: Sega (20.09.2005)

Paradoxically, the highest price of water in Bulgaria is where the largest investments in the water supply network with the help of EU funds have been made - the districts of Silistra (3,298 euros/cubic meter), Razgrad (3,236 euros/cubic meter), Smolyan (3,150 euros/cubic meter) and Shumen (3,048 euros/cubic meter). In Northeastern Bulgaria (Ruse, Razgrad, Silistra, Dobrich, Shumen, Targovishte), in addition to investments in the network, the reason for the high cost of water is the high cost of electricity, because the water is pumped. The investments made have not led to a reduction in water loss in the network, and it remains a constant value of 60%. The data for the districts of Pernik, Shumen and Sliven are shocking, where over 80% of the water leaks out before reaching the taps. Of the water supply companies with over 51% state participation, the lowest price of water is in the Pazardzhik district - (1,604 euros/cubic meter) and in Blagoevgrad (1,856 euros/cubic meter). The two districts plus Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana and Razgrad are the only ones in which the state failed to unite all water supply companies under the umbrella of one operator. The policy of consolidating the sector, imposed with the mantra "one district, one water supply association and one water supply operator" with the aim of increasing efficiency through economies of scale, turned out not to work in our country and does not produce the expected results. The lowest price is for water supplied by municipal water supply companies. The price of water in the municipalities of Kresna (0.569 euros/cubic meter), Sapareva Banya (0.871 euros/cubic meter) and Bratsigovo (0.997 euros/cubic meter) is below one euro per cubic meter, despite the increase from January 1, 2026, according to KEWR data. If only the tariff for the supply of drinking water is taken into account, the price of water in Sofia (1.05 ˆ/m? excluding VAT) is more than three times higher than that in Athens and Madrid. The French company Veolia acquired the shares in Sofiyska Voda from the British United Utilities in 2010 and became the owner of the concession in the Bulgarian capital. The concession contract expired at the beginning of 2026, but before the end of the mandate of the capital's mayor Yordanka Fandakova, it was extended for another 8 years - until February 2034. In Bulgaria, concession is a dirty word and only Sofia's water is managed on this principle. There are also several private water and sewerage operators that are affiliated with enterprises, such as "Lukoil Neftochim" Burgas and "Information Carriers" AD, or serve resort complexes, such as "Water and Sewerage Golden Sands" OOD or "ACC" OOD - for a golf course and properties on the territory of the Balchik municipality. Bulgaria in recent years has also been trying to impose the Hungarian model, through the forceful consolidation of water and sewerage operators by the state. However, the National Association of Municipalities categorically opposes these attempts by the state. Since the 1990s, the European Commission has repeatedly tried to impose liberalization of water and sewerage services. European directives were introduced, which sparked transnational protests from unions and NGOs, such as "Right to Water". They declared themselves to defend access to water as a basic human right.
Source: mediapool.bg (23.01.2026)