site.btaNew Prison Hostel Opens in Vratsa

A new prison hostel was opened in Vratsa on Thursday, the Justice Ministry said in a press release on Thursday. The hostel has a capacity of up to 180 inmates. After a reconstruction, there are now dormitories with bathrooms, as well as a new kitchen. There is a visiting room, a shop in the prison's open-air space, and sports grounds. For the supervisory and administrative staff, there are workrooms that meet all European requirements and standards. The renovation of the new prison hostel in Vratsa cost BGN 1.627 million, the Ministry added.

The opening of the hostel coincided with the closing conference of the project, titled "Providing a safe and secure material environment in prisons and detention facilities", which is implemented by the Directorate General Execution of Penalties (DGEP) under the Justice Programme of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism (NFM) 2014-2021. The project has resulted in a total of three prison hostels, three halfway houses, two detention facilities, a probation service and a training centre. The event was attended by outgoing Deputy Justice Minister Georgi Nikolov, DGEP Director General Ivaylo Yordanov, project partners from Norway, among others.

By end-April, other main facilities renovated under this project, financed by the NFM with a total of BGN 12.850 million, should be completed. These include the Hebros prison hostel in Plovdiv with a capacity of up to 130 inmates, and the Stroitel prison hostel, part of the Burgas prison with a capacity of up to 80 inmates. Halfway houses are being built in the prison hostels in Plovdiv and Burgas, as well as in the prison hostel in Samoranovo (near Dupnitsa, Southwestern Bulgaria). Halfway houses aim to introduce a new social integration concept for the preparation of prisoners and their adaptation before their integration back into society. A new detention and probation service will be opened in Petrich (southwestern Bulgaria), and new detention facilities will be raised in Samoranovo, as well. In Pazardzhik, a training centre has been in operation for three years. Various vocational courses are held there.

The new prison and training centre in Samoranovo is expected to open by end-April.