Expensive electricity is literally sucking the financial resources of water supply companies, said today the deputy chairman of VMRO Carlos Contrera. In a post on Facebook, he called on the state to change the legal framework and provide cheap electricity to water supply operators.
"Bulgaria is already in a water crisis! Over 150,000 people have already been on a water regime in the last two months," Contrera warned. According to him, over half of the districts in the country are affected by water supply problems.
The deputy chairman of VMRO accused the authorities of lacking serious measures to guarantee access to drinking water. "We have a total failure in the field of water supply," he stressed.
Contrera pointed out that a significant part of the water supply operators' expenses are for electricity. "Expensive electricity literally sucks up the financial resources of the water supply companies," he explained.
According to him, the state refuses to change the legal framework and give water supply companies access to cheap electricity. This would reduce the price of water supply services and would leave more funds for network maintenance.
The politician pointed out specific examples of inefficiency in the sector. At ViK-Dobrich, over 60-70% of the extracted water is lost at the entrance to the settlements, which leads to deterioration of water quality, low pressure and water regime.
"The situation is identical at ViK-Shumen, ViK-Targovishte. ViK-Yovkovtsi is also following this path," Contrera added.
The Deputy Chairman of VMRO also criticized the projects for replacing the water supply networks. "The projects for replacing the water supply networks in the settlements are either stalling or dragging on for years with questionable quality of implementation," he said.
As an emblematic example, he pointed to Pernik's problems with the so-called "water cycle".
Contrera insisted that the authorities understand that in addition to replacing drinking water pipes, large-scale efforts are needed to repair and build dams, overhaul main water mains, pumping stations and water towers.
VMRO has repeatedly proposed specific measures to improve water supply, which depend solely on the will of the Parliament, the Council of Ministers and the MRDPW, Contrera recalled.