“Over the past months we witnessed highly intensive construction in Bulgaria,” Bulgarian Minister of Environment and Water Ivelina Vasileva said speaking at the 5th discussion forum themed “Construction in 2016 – prospects and challenges. Opportunities in the 2014-2020 programme period”.

“The results are visible. We are aware that this was a challenge for the construction sector. The compensation is present.

The contracts signed under OP Environment 2007-2013 amount at BGN 4.136 billion. Up to the present moment, the payments made to beneficiaries in the construction sector are estimated at nearly BGN 3.2 billion. This is more than 93% of programme’s budget,” Minister Vasileva remarked.

She added that the physical finalisation of the projects under the programme should end in the end of October.

“We already have 40 water treatment plants – 27 of them are newly-built, while 13 were repaired and rehabilitated. There are more than 2,500 km of water supply and sewerage network. Nearly 500,000 Bulgarian citizens enjoy the benefits of these projects,” Ivelina Vasileva explained.