Bulgaria gets EU nod for 1.8 bln euro in environmental funding

Bulgaria's operational programme Environment for the period involves grants from the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund, plus co-financing from the state budget, the ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The funds will be deployed to improve water and wastewater infrastructure and air quality as well as for sustainable waste management and the prevention of floods, landslides and forest fires.

Over 1.4 billion levs have been set aside for the removal and treatment of wastewater, including the upgrade of water and wastewater infrastructure in eight regions, including Sofia city and the Sofia region.

A further amount of some 611.5 million levs will be invested in systems and sites for recycling, reuse and repair in order to promote the circular economy. The construction and expansion of municipal systems for biodegradable waste will get a boost of over 337 million levs.

Environmental, habitat and species protection projects will receive over 259 million levs, while measures to mitigate climate risks will be funded to the tune of over 441 million levs.

Bulgaria, which has frequently been the object of EU fines for breaching guidelines on air pollution, will prioritise air quality in the new programming period, the ministry said. Over 773 million levs will be set aside to reduce emissions from household heating and transport, with steps to improve air quality monitoring and the free replacement of aged heating devices.

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)