site.btaMost Bulgarian Prisons Are No Longer Overcrowded - Official

Most Bulgarian Prisons Are No Longer  Overcrowded - Official

Varna, on the Black Sea, February 10 (BTA) - Most Bulgarian prisons have now solved their overcrowding problem, the head of the Directorate General of Penitentiary Establishments, Svilen Tsvetanov, said here Wednesday. He was speaking at the opening of a redesigned prison hostel in Razdelna, near Varna.

According to Tsvetanov, most penitentiary facilities now provide the required living space of 4 sq m per inmate.

The Razdelna prison hostel was redesigned as part of a project funded by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. All project activities are scheduled to be completed by the end of June this year. The project has a total value of just over 7 million euro and includes seven facilities.

The Razdelna prison hostel refurbishment used some 1.7 million leva. After its completion, 100 inmates will be moved here from the Varna prison and this will improve conditions for the prison inmates. Also, repairs will be done at the prison later this year on financing from the national budget.

Three more facilities are to open soon after improvements financed by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism: a prison hostel in Debelt, southeastern Bulgaria, a prison kitchen in the Bourgas, on the Black Sea, prison, and a redesigned prison in the south-central town of Stara Zagora.