site.btaNational Water Board Staffing to Be Finalized on Wednesday, Deputy PM Zafirov Says

The staffing of the National Water Board is to be finalized during Wednesday's meeting of the Council of Ministers, Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov announced at a briefing at the Council of Ministers on Tuesday after the Board's first meeting.

On September 3, the National Assembly mandated the Council of Ministers to form a National Water Board within two weeks with the aim of coordinating actions to overcome the water crisis in 2025 and coordinating the efforts of all interested institutions to prevent possible future crises.

"The decision [of the National Assembly] has 11 points for implementation, which require significant coordination between the various institutions and ministries and very decisive measures - legislative, administrative, and financial. All this coordination will be undertaken by the National Water Board. A chairperson of the Board is to be elected, and a meeting will most likely be held next week," explained Zafirov.

The first meeting of the National Water Board aimed to clearly address water supply issues, which in recent years have not only remained unresolved but have also worsened, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said at the start of the meeting. According to the Prime Minister, the issue of water supply is becoming increasingly problematic and is part of the lack of targeted, coordinated action between institutions, between the State and municipalities, and between the competent persons who are called upon to take responsibility for dealing with this issue.

The board will include representatives of the ministries of the environment and water, regional development and public works, finance, energy, agriculture and food, health, economy and industry, as well as the National Association of Municipalities of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Development Bank, according to the decision of the National Assembly.

The Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, through Bulgarian Water Holding EAD, water supply and sewerage operators and water supply and sewerage associations, together with municipal mayors, is to carry out urgent cleaning and rehabilitation of all water sources, reservoirs, and water pipes leading from them in order to guarantee access to water from existing water sources. Parliament has mandated the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, together with the Ministry of Environment and Water and the Basin Directorates, to urgently conduct research and drilling for new water sources.