site.btaVassilev: Water Deal with Greece Secures Mediterranean Port Access for Bulgaria

The agreement with Greece for regulated water supply from the Arda River is good because it gives businesses access to a Mediterranean port for the next 60 years, said former finance minister Assen Vassilev on Thursday.

"On the other hand, it gives the opportunity to continue to support Greek agriculture with about 10% of the river's flow", he added. 

"Perhaps to sabotage the process, Vazrazhdane inserted the hearing on the water supply from the Arda River to Greece before the negotiation process was completed", Vassilev pointed out.

According to Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) Co-Floor Leader Nikolay Denkov, it is suggested that there are no records of the events, implying they were conducted "in the dark."

"Everything was documented and it was left, after the failure of the rotation, to the caretaker government to continue the negotiations", Denkov explained. He added that in January 2024, an inter-ministerial working group was established at the Council of Ministers. This group includes representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Environment and Water, the Ministry of Energy, and the National Electricity Company. Their goal is to find a suitable solution that benefits both Bulgaria and Greece, allowing for a new contract to be signed as the current one is nearing expiration."Negotiations were held and Assen Vassilev was appointed chair of the working group", Denkov added.

Vassilev explained that Bulgaria's interest was protected in the negotiating position of the Council of Ministers, adopted at an operational meeting. He said that the ensuing negotiations with Greece led to a draft agreement, which had to go through final coordination with the legal teams and the respective foreign ministries.

"Bulgaria's position was that the economic agreement should be extended for another 60 years in three parts. The first is related to the waters of the Arda River, the second part is for Bulgaria to get access for 60 years to the port of Alexandroupolis with an adjacent economic zone", Vassilev explained.

The third part involves building a highway through Makaza from Alexandroupolis to Ruse, which is also part of NATO's plans, along with a high-speed rail connection from Kapitan Andreevo to northern Bulgaria.