site.btaPM Denkov on Tsarevo Floods: There Is Systemic Problem with Prevention

Commenting on the floods in Tsarevo, on the southern Black Sea coast, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov told Nova TV on Sunday that there is a systemic problem in prevention in Bulgaria. 

Asked for an assessment of the handling of the situation in Tsarevo and its surroundings, Denkov pointed out that people should put assessments when it comes to politicians. But if I have to judge where we are in such difficult situations, in terms of the response in Tsarevo - the speed of reaction, the coordination between institutions, helping people who had to be taken out of dangerous places immediately, then the social policy people who went house-to-house - all this happened in the best possible way in this difficult situation, he added.

According to him, the assessment there is high, but in terms of everything else - how the state was prepared, the prevention, what is seen now in Karlovo and what is done after the event - there are very big problems, Denkov said.

On September 2, 2022, after 200 liters per square meter of torrential rain that lasted eight hours, settlements in the municipalities of Karlovo, Maritsa and Kaloyanovo were flooded by the rivers Tatladere, Slatinska, Bogdanska and Stryama. More than 200 houses were affected, infrastructure and bridges were destroyed. The army, police and hundreds of volunteers took part in the village clean-up.

According to Denkov, Bulgaria has two systemic problems. One is prevention versus preparation for a possible disaster. He gave the example of the 360 sections, which the caretaker Minister of Environment and Water said last year were a problem and a solution should be sought. Funds have been allocated and have gone to over 90 sites, of which only ten were the sites identified as problematic by the caretaker minister, Denkov added.

He said he feared that there had to be a change to avoid repetition of the situation with the assistance in Karlovo - when money is transferred to the municipalities and people say that the problems are not solved, he explained. According to Denkov, it is better for the state to remain beside the municipalities and control them.