Bulgaria Inspects 500 Dams, Discovers 14 Dangerous

Mihail Andonov, head of the Bulgarian national power grid operator (NEK). Photo by dnevnik.bg

A total of 500 dams have been inspected by Bulgarian authorities over the past days, with 14 of them deemed potentially dangerous, according to Mihail Andonov, head of the country's national power grid operator (NEK).

Dam inspections have been fully completed in 18 out of the total of 28 Bulgarian regions, Andonov told the Bulgarian National Television on Sunday.

The "Gostilitsa" dam near the Northwestern town of Montana and the "Rosina" dam near the Northeastern Targovishte are considered the most problematic, Andonov stated.

Last week NEK's Dams and Cascades company assumed responsibility for monitoring the technical condition of all of the nearly 3000 dams and micro-dams located all over Bulgaria.

The widespread dam inspections were triggered by a dam wall failure last week, which caused massive flooding in southern Bulgarian villages and took 10 victims.

On Wednesday, Bulgaria's Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Traicho Traikov revealed that the inspection had identified serious problems at 11 facilities of a total of 140 checked.

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