The state water and sewerage holding will cover the debts of Dobrich and Shumen The state water supply and sewerage holding will pay the obligations of water supply and sewerage Dobrich and water supply and sewerage Shumen to the electricity distribution company ENERGO-PRO and thus will save the residents of the two municipalities from water outages. This was announced by the holding after earlier the energy company announced that it was preparing to suspend the supply of electricity from September 29 to Water Supply and Sewerage Dobrich and Water Supply and Sewerage Shumen due to debts of BGN 10.5 million. In recent years, the largest debtors of ENERGO-PRO are some of the water companies in Northeastern Bulgaria. Water Supply and Sewerage Shumen and Water Supply and Sewerage Dobrich have so far accumulated liabilities amounting to over BGN 10 million, which despite the constant rescheduling continue to increase, and the agreements reached for rescheduling the amounts due are not observed, according to the energy company. Hence, they are adamant that they will no longer tolerate the accumulation of debts in such amounts, because this disrupts their operational work and harms its loyal customers and partners. The responsible institutions do not provide the necessary assistance to solve the problem in its entirety, which in the case of Water Supply and Sewerage Dobrich dates back to 2007.
Source: Sega (25.09.2020)

Bulgarian W&S Holding has not paid the BGN 10 million to Energo-Pro The electricity supply company Energo-Pro has not yet received the BGN 10.5 million promised by the state-owned Bulgarian W&S Holding to repay the debts of Water Supply and Sewerage Dobrich and Water Supply and Sewerage Shumen. Due to the delay in payment from tomorrow, September 29, the phased disconnection of the power supply to the sites of the two water operators will begin. "Despite the commitment to cover the liabilities, so far no payment has been made to the companies in the ENERGO-PRO Varna group," the company wrote. For the period 09:00 - 11:00 without power supply will remain part of the administrative buildings of the two companies in the cities of Dobrich, Shumen, General Toshevo and Shabla. "The final measure is being taken according to the already announced schedule. The facilities providing the water supply will not be affected by the interruption," Energo-pro said. As early as September 24, Energo-Pro threatened to start cutting off the power supply to the two companies on September 29, after which the principal of the state W&S Holding, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, officially replied that it would repay the debts by September 30.
Source: economic.bg (29.09.2020)

Borisov's cabinet took Aheloy and Poroy dams away from Taneva The dams Aheloy and Poroy now have the status of water sources for priority drinking and household water supply, the government decided on Wednesday. This is a real "green light" for the implementation of the plan of the Minister of Ecology Emil Dimitrov - Revizoro to provide water from these two dams for Burgas. This denouement came after a noisy scandal weeks ago in parliament between Revizoro and Ministers Petya Avramova and Desislava Taneva, which required the personal intervention of Prime Minister Borisov. The decision from Wednesday states that the properties - public state property, are provided free of charge for management to the regional governor of Burgas district. The dams, which have so far been managed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, will be managed and maintained by Water Supply and Sewerage SPJSC - Bourgas on the basis of a contract for management, maintenance and operation of water supply and sewerage systems and for the provision of water supply and sewerage services with the Association of Water Supply and Sewerage in the district, of which the regional governor is chairman.
Source: mediapool.bg (10.12.2020)

The state water supply and sewerage holding is still wondering how to repair Beli Iskar The government's new megastructure - the Bulgarian Water and Sewerage Holding - is still far from starting repairs to the Beli Iskar Dam. More than a year after the beginning of the water crisis in Pernik and the promises for reconstruction of the reservoir wall, only this month the holding published a public tender, but not for a contractor, but for the selection of a law firm to prepare a legal analysis of how to assign the preparation of a project, as well as who will be responsible for the dam after that. In the autumn of 2020, the government commissioned the Water and Sewerage Holding to prepare a "working project for repair or reconstruction" of the dam, which was one of the conditions by Sofia Municipality to agree to grant water from the water supply system of Sofia to Pernik a year ago. The analysis, that the holding seeks, must indicate the regulations that the state-owned company should refer to when awarding a technical project for the reconstruction of the dam.
Source: economic.bg (23.02.2021)

Former Minister of Defense Nikolay Tsonev heads the Water and Sewerage Holding The caretaker government has again made a strange appointment to a key post. The Minister of Regional Development Violeta Komitova has quietly replaced the Supervisory Board of Bulgarian Water and Sewerage Holding. The biggest surprise is that she also appointed Nikolay Tsonev - former Minister of Defense in the "Stanishev" cabinet. There is no evidence that the newly appointed supervisor has any expertise in the water and sewerage field. Apart from being a minister, he is known as an entrepreneur and manager, but in other areas (such as bread production and tourism), as a lecturer, and in addition he has not stopped being involved in politics - and is currently a party leader of New Alternative, which in the last elections called on its supporters to vote for the party of Slavi Trifonov. A curious detail is that Kamelia Neykova, who heads the Central Election Commission, was nominated by "There is Such a People", but is actually a staff member of Nikolay Tsonev - in 2008 Neykova became Deputy Minister in the military department headed by him, and then joined his New Alternative party. The joint-stock company Bulgarian Water and Sewerage Holding SPJSC was established by the Borisov Cabinet in January 2020. It included all shares and stocks of the state in the water and sewerage companies throughout the country. Its main activity so far is to lend money to stranded water operators. The suspicions are that the Water and Sewerage Holding is another piggy bank created by the previous government for non-transparent and inefficient spending of state resources.
Source: expert.bg (19.07.2021)

The W&S Holding will monitor Covid patients on the wastewater The old management of the Water and Sewerage Holding has developed a methodology for testing wastewater, which can determine the number of coronavirus infected in a given area. This was done on the recommendation of the European Commission, which "strongly encourages" Member States to introduce a national wastewater monitoring system aimed at collecting data on SARS-CoV-2 and its variants in wastewater by 1 October 2021. The monitoring system should include large cities with over 150,000 inhabitants, and the minimum sampling frequency should be twice a week. Meanwhile, the Minister of Regional Development, Arch. Violeta Komitova met with the new heads of W&S Holding on Tuesday. She replaced almost the entire management of the only state-owned company created during the time of GERB, which did not spend the BGN 1 billion paid in advance, bringing in MRF staff. Against the background of about 300 settlements without or with limited water supply, it is not clear what about BGN 900 million will be spent on by W&S Holding. The appointed new management has not made its plans public so far.
Source: econ.bg (12.08.2021)

Expensive electricity is threatening with bankruptcy the water operators Expensive electricity is also threatening water supply and sewerage companies. The management of the Bulgarian Water and Sewerage Holding warned the deputies about this. The critically high electricity costs of the water and sewerage operators for July and August drastically deplete their financial reserves, said Asya Stoyanova, chairwoman of the Water and Sewerage Holding's Management Board before the temporary parliamentary commission on the revision of GERB's government in the parliament, headed by Maya Manolova. The electricity bills of the water supply and sewerage operators have increased between two and three times in July. Record high invoices are expected for August as well, warned the management of the Holding. Water and sewerage operators buy electricity on the free market, and the price of water for end customers is regulated. In recent months, the price of electricity has risen sharply, forcing businesses to shut down. State railways also complained about high prices. At the meeting of the Audit Commission of Boyko Borissov's management were heard the managements of the Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX), the employers' organizations and trade unions, BEH, ESO, NEK, Kozloduy NPP, TPP Maritsa-East 2 and others.
Source: mediapool.bg (25.08.2021)

The water supply and sewerage holding creates its own electricity trader. It would not go bankrupt There will be no bankruptcy of water supply and sewerage companies due to high electricity bills, said Ivaylo Vankov, deputy chairman of the board of the state-owned Bulgarian W&S Holding, which includes state-owned companies in the sector. Only three days ago, however, Bulgarian W&S Holding came out with a call for help from the state for finding a workable solution to the problem of doubled and even tripled electricity bills of the water operator. Now Vankov says that the holding has already taken steps and one of the measures is to create its own electricity trader, which will play on the stock exchange and buy electricity for all water supply and sewerage under its umbrella, in order to avoid more supply price problems. "Water supply and sewerage companies are quite energy-intensive companies - they use electricity to supply drinking water to customers. In many places they also use pumping stations, drinking water treatment plants and wastewater treatment plants, water and sewerage operators use a lot of electricity. According to the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation, all 48 water and sewerage operators consume about 650 GW hours per year - that's a lot of electricity, 22 of these companies are part of the water and sewerage holding and their consumption is 500 GW hours or in general I can say that it is about 1.5% of the total domestic consumption of electricity in the country," Vankov explained.
Source: mediapool.bg (19.10.2021)

Bulgarian Water and Sewerage Holding has accumulated losses of BGN 944,000 According to the individual report as of September 30, 2021, Bulgarian Water and Sewerage Holding reported a loss of BGN 944,000. The holding did not award inhouse orders. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Grozdan Karadzhov in response to a parliamentary question during Friday's parliamentary control. He reminded that with Decree 7 of the Council of Ministers of January 22, 2020, changes in the budget of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works in the amount of BGN 1 billion were approved for the establishment of the holding company with state participation in the capital. "As of January 10 this year, the amount of equity, spent and available funds of the holding are equity - BGN 1.040 billion, including cash - BGN 1 billion, contribution of fixed tangible and intangible assets - BGN 2.5 million, non-monetary contribution, ownership of shares in water supply and sewerage operators - BGN 37.7 million", the Minister explained. At the same time, however, the holding supports the water companies not only financially, but also by providing them with technical and other types of assistance in order to be able to participate in European programs for which funds have been allocated. Karadjov added that the total amount of funds spent amounted to BGN 107.4 million.
Source: BSE (17.01.2022)

Water Supply and Sewerage Kurdzhali is already part of the structure of Bulgarian W&S Holding Water Supply and Sewerage LTD - Kurdzhali is the 24th water company from the structure of Bulgarian Water and Sewerage Holding, the state holding company announced. 51% of the capital of the company, previously owned by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, has already been contributed to the capital of Bulgarian Water and Sewerage Holding. The remaining distribution of the capital of Water Supply and Sewerage Kurdzhali is as follows: Kardzhali municipality - 18%, Krumovgrad municipality - 8%, Kirkovo municipality - 8%, Momchilgrad municipality - 5%, Ardino municipality - 4%, Djebel municipality - 3% and Chernoochene municipality - 3%. The change in ownership will also be reflected in the account of Water Supply and Sewerage Kurdzhali in the Commercial Register. The Kardzhali Water Company provides services to nearly 147,000 people in the 7 municipalities in the district. Of these, 139,259 residents use the water supply service, 65,742 - the wastewater disposal service, 53,179 - wastewater treatment. Kardzhali district has a large number of settlements, including many neighborhoods with few inhabitants. An example of this is the fact that the population in 266 villages out of a total of 471 in the district uses the service of drinking water in their homes.
Source: mediapool.bg (06.06.2022)

"ViK - Varna" Ltd. ends 2022 with a profit of over BGN 2 million and no arrears to suppliers and contractors, announced the manager of the company Veselin Rusev after the General Meeting of Partners. Compared to the previous year 2021, the positive financial result of the company is about BGN 1.2 million more. Last year, the company's revenues were over BGN 69.7 million. The main reason for their increase compared to 2021 is the increase in the price of water. The other factors are the increase in the number of subscribers as well as the accounting of hitherto unreached users. At the end of last year, the company had nearly 350,000 customers, of which a little over 31,000 were companies. The General Assembly gave consent to VK to take out a loan of just over BGN 25 million from "Bulgarian VK Holding" EAD. The company receives the loan with a three-year grace period and a very good interest rate, and will repay it over the next 15 years. The funds from the loan will be used for the normal completion of the large project for the water cycle of Varna. Water losses in the region reach 60 percent, with pipes in villages being the most problematic.
Source: BTA (30.06.2023)

BGN 5 million for salaries in the plumbing holding "Bulgarian Waterworks Holding" EAD was established to control the activities of the water companies in the country, to carry out a reform for their more efficient functioning, to reduce water losses and to keep the price of water socially acceptable and at the lowest possible levels. For this purpose, the holding received targeted financing of BGN 1 billion. As of September 1, 2023, the company has its own funds in the amount of BGN 756,287,053. That is, for the three years, nearly BGN 250 million has been spent, without visible results. , or a quarter of the planned funds for the water reform... At the moment, the holding employs 47 employees and is managed by a 5-member Supervisory Board headed by Eng. Gancho Dimitrov and a 4-member Management Board. The executive director is Irena Georgieva. More than BGN 5 million have been given for salaries, remuneration of the management, paid holidays and benefits under the Labor Code of the employees of "Bulgarian Waterworks Holding" EAD since the establishment of the company in 2020 until now. From July 1 to September 11, the employees of the holding considered 22 requests for financing from subsidiaries of "Bulgarian Waterworks Holding". As a result of these requests, the Hoding has allocated over BGN 56.5 million to the water companies. Of this, BGN 38 million is for financing to successfully implement the projects under the OP "Environment 2014-2022".
Source: Trud (19.09.2023)

The Board of Directors of "Bulgarian Waterworks Holding" EAD appoints Eng. Rositsa Itova as the manager of "Waterworks" EOOD - Sofia. because of the accumulation of a loss of BGN 25 million under the previous management of engineer Ivan Ivanov. As of 30.09.2023, "ViK" EOOD - Sofia reports an uncovered loss with over 35% more compared to the uncovered loss of BGN 18.1 million. as of 30.09.2022. For the first 9 months of the current year, the current loss is in the amount of BGN 2.2 million. Deteriorated financial condition of "ViK" EOOD - Plovdiv is the reason for the change of the Board of Directors of "Bulgarian Waterworks Holding" EAD the manager of the operator and there. The long-time chief engineer of the operator - Eng. Anton Galabov takes over the management of the company. The reason for the change of management is the unsatisfactory financial management in the last two years, which led to the uncovered loss of the company as of September 30, 2023 in the amount of over BGN 16 million. ?
Source: actualno.com (22.11.2023)

New state-owned companies created in the past four years are accumulating losses, a review of the companies' annual reports through 2022 and the latest available interim reports, as of the end of the third quarter of 2023, shows.Children's Hospital Health Investment Company, which is set to build a new national children's hospital was established at the end of 2020. During this period, expenses in the amount of BGN 1.2 million were accumulated, and since they are offset by zero BGN revenues, the loss for 2022 is equal to this. Second year the "Bulgaria Heli Med Service", which was created for the purpose of providing emergency medical aid by air, could not actually work. The company was registered on August 2, 2022. For the time of its existence in 2022, the company has accumulated a loss of BGN 47,000, the loss for the nine months of 2023 is BGN 372,000. In 2024, however, the company is expected to actually develop - there is a transfer foreseen for it in the draft budget. The situation with "Bulgarian Plumbing Holding" - a megastructure with a huge capital of BGN 1.41 billion, created under the Borisov cabinet - is also alarming. According to the final annual consolidated financial report for 2022, the holding has accumulated a loss of BGN 51.7 million, compared to a loss for 2021 of BGN 2.9 million. The increase in the loss occurs against the background of the expansion of the holding with the acquisition of shares in a total of 15 water and sanitation companies in 2021 and 2022. At the end of the first nine months, the holding's cap, excluding the subsidiaries, shows a balanced balance - the revenues are the same as the expenses - BGN 2.7 million.
Source: actualno.com (28.11.2023)

ViK - Plovdiv was saved from de facto bankruptcy after the Supreme Administrative Court canceled the largest financial correction in the company's history. With their decision, the magistrates invalidated the decision of the Administrative Court - Plovdiv for the return of BGN 20 million to Europe for the project for the Southern bypass collector, which represents a 25% correction. At the beginning of this year, the Managing Authority of the Environment Program made a third inspection on the project for over 80 million BGN, revising its previous sanction. The first was for 5% or nearly 4 million BGN, and it was confirmed by the Supreme Administrative Court. The new decision of the Governing Body was for a 25% financial correction or BGN 20.3 million due to irregularities in the selection of the contractor for the order. In the end, the Supreme Administrative Court overruled the decision for 20 million BGN financial correction, which in practice leaves in effect the previous decision for the return of 4 million BGN. The executor of the project is DZZD "Eko Proekt - Plovdiv", and it includes "TES Construction Group" - EOOD (formerly "Parsek build" OOD) - with a 48% shareholding and "Interhold" EOOD - with 50% shareholding. The third company is "V and K Infrastructure Design" EOOD. Before the decision, "Bulgarian Plumbing Holding" replaced the compromised head of the company, Ognyan Kulishev, and Anton Galabov is currently in the post. A competition for the position is also expected to be launched. Despite the canceled correction, the water supply system - Plovdiv must be seriously rehabilitated. 14 million losses were reported last year. Trafficnews.bg ?
Source: Other (08.12.2023)

"Water Supply and Sewerage" Silistra became the 26th operator in the composition of "Bulgarian Plumbing Holding" EAD. 51% of the company's capital is already owned by the state, and the remaining 49% by the municipalities of Silistra, Alfatar, Dulovo, Kaynardzha, Hlavnica, Sitovo and Tutrakan. The company provides complex services to the population in all seven municipalities with nearly 98,000 inhabitants. The total length of the operator's water supply system is 1,861 km, and that of the sewage system - 161,683 km. The region is supplied with water for drinking and household needs from 82 water sources, 70 of which are pumped and the rest are gravity fed. "Water Supply and Sewerage" Ltd. in Silistra operates 3 wastewater treatment plants - "Silistra" WWTP, "Glavnitsa" WWTP and "Tutrakan" WWTP. The price of water supplied by Silistra Waterworks increased by 8.6 percent since the beginning of the year. Thus, the residents of the district already pay BGN 5.78 per cubic meter of water - one of the highest in the country. "Bulgarian Plumbing Holding" will provide systematic assistance in all technical and operational cases. This strategic decision will give future possibilities to the Silistra Waterworks for access to modern technological solutions and financing under European structural funds and programs.
Source: mediapool.bg (05.02.2024)

The former minister of ecology in the second government of Boyko Borisov, Ivelina Vasileva, joined the management of the state-owned "Bulgarian Waterworks Holding", which manages over BGN 1 billion and 25 waterworks companies. The appointment of Ivelina Vasileva to the Supervisory Board of the company was made by the decision of the regional minister Andrey Tsekov at the end of February 2024. She takes the place of another representative of GERB in the management of ViK Holding - lawyer Dafinka Semerdzhieva. The management of VK Holding was replaced by Andrey Tsekov already at the end of August 2023. "Bulgarian VK Holding" is implementing a project for about BGN 300 million under the National Recovery and Sustainability Plan (NRSP). It envisages the construction of water treatment plants and a water supply network in settlements with up to 10,000 inhabitants.
Source: Sega (18.03.2024)

BGN 400 million will be invested in the water supply network in 10 regions The Ministry of Regional Development (MRRD), Ministry of Finance, "Bulgarian Waterworks Holding" and 10 regional waterworks operators signed an operational agreement under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan. The investment is for nearly BGN 400 million excluding VAT. The project envisages the development and improvement of the water supply infrastructure and services on the territory of 10 districts in the country. This was announced by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works. The ten water and sanitation operators are partners in the project with essential functions for the implementation of the planned activities, in whose territories the investments will be implemented. The announcement lacks information on who the water operators are. The concluded agreement regulates the financial parameters, the scope and the obligations laid down in the implementation measures. Construction of 7 new wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) is planned in settlements with between 5,000 and 10,000 inhabitants. Reconstruction of 3 existing WWTPs in cities with a population between 5,000 and 10,000 inhabitants, as well as repair and construction of 150 km of water supply and 220 km of sewage networks.
Source: mediapool.bg (01.04.2024)

Of the initial capital of 1 billion leva provided by the state, as of mid-February 2025, the Water and Sewerage Holding has 448.8 million leva in its accounts. "Bulgarian Water and Sewerage Holding" is a company that was established in early 2020, participating as a shareholder in 27 Water and Sewerage companies, in most of which it is the full owner of the capital. "Bulgarian Water and Sewerage Holding" has granted a total of 108 loans with a total agreed amount of up to 762 million leva to the Water and Sewerage operators. A total of 50 of the loans are "for the repayment by the Water and Sewerage operators of current and overdue liabilities to main suppliers in the total amount of 124 million leva". Another 56 loans are for the implementation of water projects, including under European programs. The total amount of infrastructure loans is 575.6 million leva. Two loans were granted to "Water and Sewerage Energy Group". This company was established to trade in electricity on the Bulgarian Independent Energy Exchange solely for the needs of the subsidiaries of "BViK Holding" water supply companies. The share capital of 12 subsidiaries was increased by 170 million leva, and the authorized capital was contributed upon the establishment of "ViK Energy Group" in the amount of 1 million leva.
Source: Capital (11.03.2025)

The state-owned company "Automagistrali", which allocates billions for road construction, will have a new member of the board of directors - Kamen Manev, by a decision of a meeting of the company's board of directors. Konstantina Atanasovska was dismissed from her position and Manev was elected as a new board member in her place. Manev was a member of the supervisory board of "Bulgarian Water and Sanitation Holding" from May 30, 2024 to April 1, 2025, according to a reference in the Commercial Register. He was in office during the official cabinet of Dimitar Glavchev, when Violeta Koritarova - Kasabova was regional minister and principal of the holding. Otherwise, Manev was the executive director of "Sofia Properties" in the period 2009-2012, and was dismissed by a decision of the Sofia Municipal Council in 2012. Between May 2008 and July 2012, he was on the management board of "Sofia Water". In the past, he was in the management of "First Private Trading House", a partner in "Elmashexport-Engineering", and between 2008 and 2011 he was on the management board of the now defunct company "Medinex". Manev was also a co-owner of "Balkanagroresurs", also now closed.
Source: Capital (03.04.2025)

The Deputy Mayor for Investments of Pleven, Kaloyan Kadriyski, has been temporarily appointed as the manager of "Water Supply and Sewerage" (VS) Pleven until a competition is held. The previous manager, Eng. Kliment Todorov, has been dismissed from the Management Board of "Bulgarian Water Supply and Sewerage Holding" EAD. For the third consecutive year, the Pleven region has been under a heavy water regime, and the Pleven municipality administration has planned only 1 million leva for water supply and sewerage repairs. Last week, the government proposed, and the parliament adopted, a reshuffle of the state budget, which revises the investment program of Pleven, so that over 10 million leva will go to water projects.
Source: mediapool.bg (07.10.2025)

The Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (KEVR) has determined the rate of return on equity capital of "Sofiyska Voda" JSC at 13 percent. for the regulatory period 2027-2031. When calculating, report on the circumstances of the concession agreement between the Metropolitan Municipality and the company for the provision of water supply and sewerage services on the territory of the municipality. For the rest of the operators, the norm is determined by the coefficient for each group - large, medium, small and micro operators. The KEVR report notes that some of the large and medium-sized companies with state-owned capital have increased in 2023-2024. with the decision of "Bulgarian ViK Holding" EAD with a total amount of 86,528 mln. BGN Among them are "ViK" - Yambol, Smolyan, Stara Zagora, Sliven, Pernik, Kardjali, Burgas and Silistra. Construction and assembly activities related to the increase in the project, financed by OP "Okolna Sreda 2014-2020". Additional capital of "Kyustendilska voda" EOOD has increased from 3.28 mln. 34 mln BGN, and "ViK" EOOD - Sofia with 34 mln. BGN in order to compensate for accumulated losses and provide funds for investment and repayment of obligations to "Bulgarian ViK Holding". At the same time, five water and sanitation operators ("Water Supply and Sewerage" Ltd., Haskovo, "Water Supply and Sewerage - Shumen" Ltd., "Water Supply and Sewerage" Ltd. Dobrich, "Water Supply and Sewerage" EOOD, Smolyan and "Water Supply and Sewerage - Vidin" EOOD) report negative values ??of their own capital in the total amount of -49,238 mln. BGN (the main asset is the value of "ViK-Shumen" OOD in the amount of BGN 32,518 million). Six companies ("Water Supply and Sewerage - Shumen" OOD, "Water Supply and Sewerage - Sliven" OOD, "Water Supply and Sewerage" OOD Dobrich, "Water Supply and Sewerage" OOD, Pernik, "ViK" OOD, Kardzhali and "Water Supply and Sewerage" OOD, Smolyan) report current losses for 2024. in the amount of 36,056 mln. BGN, as the largest to "ViK" - Smolyan (-22,131 million BGN).
Source: BTA (09.10.2025)

Next year, the Bulgarian government, supported by GERB, DPS-New Beginning, BSP and ITN, is set to take on huge loans that significantly exceed the funds needed to cover the budget deficit and refinance old debts. Almost according to the same scheme as this year, the cabinet plans to inject part of the new debt into the capital of state-owned companies, presenting this operation as an investment, not as budget expenses. In this way, the authorities both circumvent the problem of inflating the deficit and secure serious sums for dubious spending. Although the deficit set in the draft budget for 2026 is 3.649 billion euros (3% of GDP), the government is proposing that the National Assembly approve a 10.440 billion euro ceiling on the new debt. This is almost two billion leva more than this year's limit of 18.9 billion leva, which has already been almost reached. The report to the draft budget makes it clear that next year the deficit and maturities on old debts (1.4 billion euros) require financing of a total of 5.03 billion euros. However, the cabinet wants to withdraw twice as much debt, with the remainder of 5.4 billion euros to be booked under the line. The Ministry of Finance points out that of the 10.440 billion euros in new loans in question, 3.261 billion will go as investments in defense, as Bulgaria has already announced its intention to take advantage of the EU's SAFE mechanism to strengthen the European defense industry. Thus, 2.2 billion euros remain from the new debt, part of which will be used to raise the capital of eight state-owned companies, it is clear from a list attached to the draft budget. In the same way, 5 billion were poured this year. BGN in the Bulgarian Development Bank and BEH, secured by loans, without this being reflected in the expenditure part, and hence in the budget deficit. The largest expenditure of EUR 407 million is planned for the creation of the joint venture between VMZ Sopot and Rheinmetall. The investment in the defense industry is in equipment, plans, a know-how package, personnel training, etc. Another EUR 260 million is intended for the establishment and capitalization of a new commercial company with 100% state participation under the Ministry of Economy and Industry. The government plans to increase the capital of the Water and Sewerage Holding by EUR 200 million, with which the holding can co-finance water projects under the Environment program in the next two years (until 2027), as well as emergency measures against water shortages. A new 127.8 million euros will be poured into BEH, after this year the capital of the state energy holding has already been increased by 1.5 billion leva. The new financial injection will be invested in "activities for technical reclamation of the disturbed terrain of the "East Maritsa Coal Basin" deposit, i.e. to preserve the jobs of the miners from Maritsa East Mine. The capital of "Sofia Tech Park" will be increased by 25 million euros for the construction of an "Artificial Intelligence Factory" (AI Factory – BRAIN++) and the development of the Discoverer++ supercomputer. Another 25 million euros will go to the construction and equipment of the National Children's Hospital. An increase in capital by 1.237 million euros is also planned for the "St. Panteleimon" Hospital in Yambol for a new hospital block. There are also plans for ˆ25 million to increase the capacity of the FLAG fund, which finances municipal investments in areas such as water and sanitation, energy efficiency and urban development. Even after all these capital increases, there remains nearly ˆ1.2 billion of planned new state loans for next year, for which it is unclear what they will be used for if they are withdrawn.
Source: Sega (06.11.2025)

The Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Arch. Ivan Shishkov, is changing the form of management of the state-owned company "Bulgarian Water and Sanitation Holding" - from a two-tier to a single-tier, a new board of directors has been appointed, and the executive director, Irena Georgieva, has been replaced. Under the umbrella of "Bulgarian Water and Sanitation Holding" are 27 water companies, in which the state owns from 51% to 100% of their capital. A large part of them are in a difficult financial situation and in recent years the megastructure created during the GERB era with a capital of over 1 billion leva has become a bank that distributes loans to troubled water operators. Data from the financial report show that the available funds at the Water Holding's disposal are 455 million leva by the end of 2025. The expected credit losses are in the amount of 565 million leva. The reason is that the water operators cannot repay the loans granted. Instead of an 8-member Supervisory and Management Board, now "Bulgarian Water Supply and Sewerage Holding" will be managed by a 5-member Board of Directors. Venelin Denchev Shakov has been elected executive director of the Water Holding. Plamen Tsvetkov Manolov, who was removed days earlier by Sports Minister Encho Keryazov as executive director of the "National Sports Base", has been elected chairman of the board of directors. Manolov has managed the state-owned company that manages all major sports bases for a decade, with the accumulated loss of NSB reaching 30 million leva. Former Minister of Ecology Manol Trifonov Genov is also joining the board of directors of the Water Holding as an independent. The 66-year-old socialist has experience in the Water Supply and Sewerage sector, having been executive director of Plovdiv Water Supply and Sewerage years ago. Another former BSP MP is joining the board of directors of the water holding, but as a representative of the state. This is 49-year-old Lyubomir Boykov Bonev, who is an engineer by profession. He is the manager of "Industrial and Logistics Zone - Pernik" EAD, and together with his wife Verka he has shares in the companies "M Control" and "Stroykompekt AB". Lawyer Yavor Vladimirov Stoychev is the fifth member of the Board of Directors of the Water and Sewerage Holding, as a representative of the state. He is 37 years old and is an active participant in several companies, including "Prima Lex Consult", "Stoychev Accounting Services", "Star Jobs" - for personnel selection, "Solutions 2026".
Source: mediapool.bg (06.07.2026)

The management of ViK Burgas has been replaced by a decision of the Board of Directors of "Bulgarian ViK Holding", announced the state holding, which is the principal of the water operator. The decision comes after the previous head of ViK Burgas, Tsvetan Mirchev, and the employee of the "Construction" department, Ilcho Boev, were detained and accused of intentional mismanagement, with which they caused damage to the company for 303,281 euros. The new Board of Directors of ViK Burgas is appointed temporarily until a competition is held. Eng. Zlatina Dimitrova has been proposed as executive director. Dimitar Atanasov remains the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Economist Nikolay Ivanov, who has many years of financial and management experience in a number of private companies, has been elected as a member of the board. The board also includes Yani Bulanov and Eng. Ginka Dobreva.
Source: mediapool.bg (21.07.2026)

Deals of the company "ViK Energy Group", a subsidiary of Bulgarian ViK Holding, will be given to a prosecutor because it "accumulated losses in vicious purchases of electricity", announced the Minister of Regional Development Ivan Shishkov. Three unprofitable contracts during the previous government led to damages of 2.5 million euros, two have already been terminated, work is underway to terminate the third. "ViK Energy Group" was established in the fall of 2021 to buy electricity at the lowest possible prices for all ViK companies under the umbrella of ViK Holding. Instead of buying electricity profitably directly on the energy exchange, when it is cheapest, "ViK Energy" concludes long-term contracts with three intermediary companies. The price in them is fixed and above the market price, which guarantees profits for private traders at the expense of the state-owned "Energy". The most damaged companies are ViK Plovdiv, Sliven, Yambol, Shumen, which need more energy for their pumping stations. The manager of ViK Energy Group, Kovach Ganev, has been fired, but is not relieved of responsibility. The three contracts in question were concluded during his time.
Source: Sega (21.08.2026)

Engineer Atanas Barzev is the new manager of "Water Supply and Sewerage" EOOD – Haskovo, the Bulgarian Water and Sewerage Holding EAD announced. Barzev replaces Engineer Nenko Dervenkov in the role. Barzev has previously served as manager of the Haskovo water utility twice—from 2006 to 2010 and from 2013 to 2015. He has also managed "ViK Yovkovtsi" OOD in Veliko Tarnovo and served as the mayor of Harmanli Municipality (1995–1999). "Water Supply and Sewerage" EOOD – Haskovo is one of the holding's largest companies in terms of service area, covering 5,533 square kilometers. The company serves a population of 206,000 people across the region's 11 municipalities.
Source: Maritsa (15.09.2026)