Concessionaire to Operate Water Supply and Sewerage Network in Bulgaria's Pleven

The water supply and sewerage (WSS) infrastructure in the northern city of Pleven will be granted under concession to fetch investments of BGN 400 M.

The move has been proposed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is a part of the World Bank.

The IFC will publish a call for expressions of interest in the renowned Global Water Intelligence magazine.

If some prestigious company shows interest and if the local authorities approve of the step, a public-private partnership procedure will be launched, according to Parliament Chair Tsetska Tsacheva, whose birthplace is Pleven.

In the words of Regional Development Minister Lilyana Pavlova, if the pilot project of the World Bank proves successful, it will be applied in other municipalities too.

The WSS sector in Pleven has not received any investments in the past 50 years except for the money that went to emergency repair works.

Pavlova says that no state budget money can be earmarked for the WSS network in Pleven, which is why funding is sought through EU funds and public-private partnership.

20 rural areas in the Pleven region suffer water supply interruptions, with water quality deviations registered in 18 of them.

50% of the water supply in the Pleven municipality is carried out by the Water Supply and Sewerage company in Lovech.

Half of the population in the region is not connected to a sewerage system and only 40% of the locals have access to wastewater treatment plants.

At present the WSS network of Sofia is the only one that has been granted under concession.

The remaining WSS infrastructure in the country is being taken care of by municipal and state-owned companies.

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