Bulgaria providing 1 mln euro for emergency upgrade of water supply system in Pernik

The financing comes on top of the sum of 2.7 million levs which the government will allocate on Wednesday for replacement of precipitators at the waste water treatment plant (WWTP) in the town located some 30 km southwest of Sofia, the ministry said in a statement.

In November, the regional development ministry said that ViK Pernik, the water utility servicing the towns of Pernik and Radomir, will rehabilitate their water supply networks with support from the European Union. ViK Pernik signed a contract under which it will receive over 100 million levs in funding under the EU's operational programme Environment 2014-2020.

Pernik has been gripped by a severe water crisis due to dry weather in 2019 and the outdated water supply infrastructure in the region. The poor condition of the water supply network in Pernik municipality which has not been rehabilitated for more than 50 years is to blame for up to 76% of water losses on the territory of the municipality.

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)