site.btaInternational High-Level Meeting on Black Sea Held in Bourgas

International High-Level Meeting on Black Sea Held in Bourgas

Bourgas, Southeastern Bulgaria, October 31 (BTA) - Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski told an international high-level meeting in Bourgas on Monday that the Black Sea is an important transport corridor with great potential for development. He said the corridor should develop sustainably from an environmental perspective.

The meeting was occasioned by International Black Sea Action Day (October 31), marking the 20th anniversary of the signature of the Black Sea Strategic Action Plan. It was attended by representatives of the countries which are parties to the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution: Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and Bulgaria. Officials from the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, members of the academic, business and NGO communities, as well as Bulgaria's Environment and Water Minister Ivelina Vassileva and Regional Development and Public Works Minister Liliyana Pavlova were also at the meeting. The event was organized by the Ministry of Environment and Water in association with Bourgas City Hall and the Black Sea Basin Directorate.

The six Black Sea countries reaffirmed their governments' commitment to work jointly in order to achieve tangible results in restoring and protecting the Black Sea. The participants discussed possibilities to share knowledge and capacity for improving the marine environment over the long term and future initiatives for regional cooperation through the Black Sea Commission.

By the year's end Bulgaria will buy a second oil spill cleaning ship for its aquatory in the Black Sea, Moskovski said. The new vessel will be based at the port of Bourgas. The first one is based on the Danube River.

According to Vassileva, the Bulgarian government is making consistent efforts to protect water against pollution, which has a direct bearing on human health, marine biodiversity and tourism. Nearly 350 million leva was invested in such projects under Operational Programme "Environment 2007-2013," Vassileva said. The money was used to build and renovate waste water treatment plants along the entire Bulgarian section of the Black Sea coastline.

The new Operational Programme "Environment 2014-2020" is supporting the construction of waste water treatment plants in the seaside resorts of Primorsko and Golden Sands, the last remaining major resorts which need to acquire such facilities.