Sofia echo today

The Bulgarian government has announced it will allocate 30 million leva for infrastructure project development in Plovdiv as compensation for Plovdiv's assistance in helping relieve Sofia's refuse debacle, Stroitelstvo Gradut has reported on September 7. .

Bulgaria is faced with being slapped with serious sanctions from the European Union, ranging from 30 000 to 50 000 euro a day, deputy Enviroment Minister Evdokia Maneva said in a statement. The sanctions stem from the government's inability to deal with the construction of waste treatment stations needed to serve the capital.

Plovdiv municipality will receive 14 million leva for the construction of the Modur – Tsarevets interchange, and 4.3 million leva designated for the clean-up of the Maritsa river which crosses the city.

A further 10 million leva is earmarked for the construction of the water treatment station in Orizari and Kadievo in the neighbouring Rodopi municipality. This project must be ready and presented to the government by the end of 2009 in order to be "
deposited in the Ministry of Agriculture and considered for financing"
, Stroitelstvo Gradut reported on September 7.

A new batch of more than 100 000 tons of Sofia refuse is poised to be sent to Plovdiv in the Tsalapitsa dump, as the Government has asked local authorities to once again bail out and assist the beleaguered capital city.

According to a government spokesperson, the Tsalapitsa dump can accommodate the refuse because its remaining free capacity is sufficient for 420 000 tons of refuse.

The government has also vowed to provide financial resources for the development of a waste treatment station in the village of Tsalapitsa, according to the village mayor, Slavcho Atanassov. He told Stroitelstvo Gradut that the village had designed a project worth 10 million leva and that the Government has vowed to help fund it.

The Tsalapitsa landfill near Plovdiv has so far opened to 200 000 tons of packaged refuse. Up until now, it refused to accommodate any further deposits on the grounds that piling up more rubbish would take up a large portion of the facility’s capacity.

At the moment, Sofia carries bales to the northern town of Silistra. A further 50 000 tons was supposed to head off to the nearby town of Lovetch but local councillors recently backtracked from the decision.