Environment Minister Djevdet Chakurov opened the new refuse depot in the Black Sea town of Sozopol and is expected to attend the groundbreaking of a new water treatment station in second-largest Black Sea city of Bourgas on June 10.

Sozopol's refuse depot was built using funds allocated under the European Union's pre-accession aide programme Ispa and is part of a project approved in 2000. The project also includes the construction of new landfills in Silistra, Montana, Sevlievo and Rousse, and a station in Kiten Black Sea resort, the Ministry of Environment and Water Affairs (MOEW) said in a media statement. The total value of the project is 60.6 million euro, three quarters of which were financed under Ispa and the rest from the state budget.

Sozopol depot includes four separate sections for household waste and has been planned in accordance with current environmental requirements, MOEW said. The depot will service about 48 000 people from Sozopol, Pomorie and Tsarevo municipalities. It exploitation term is 22 years.

The water treatment station in Bourgas district Meden Roudnik would also be constructed using Ispa funds. The project was approved at the end of 2002, MOEW said. The construction contract costs are 6.6 million euro and construction is expected to be finished by May 2009. The ministry picked Austrian company Alpine Bau to carry out the project in February 2007.
 
At least 10 regulated and unregulated refuse depots along the southern Black Sea coast side will be closed down, private broadcaster bTV reported on June 10. This will happen on stages and will be paid with European Union funds. The refuse depots that have to be closed down do not correspond to environmental standards. The aim is the existing landfills to be renovated or replaced by new refuse facilities.