The Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme for South Eastern Europe REReP Record

Refusal to go with the flow Visiting a government institution may still be a harrowing experience for many, with the long, dark corridors inviting reminisces from the communist past. But there’s something different in the air. People are younger and committed to their work, and to sustainable development. At least that is how it feels on the fourth floor of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works in Sofia. This is the workplace of Kiril Gyoshev, the manager in charge of quality assurance and control of Bulgarian projects funded by the European Union’s Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA) and implemented by the Ministry’s ISPA Implementing Agency. Bulgaria hopes to join the EU in 2007 but to do so a series of reforms must be executed. The country agreed with the EU to build 37 new wastewater treatment plants by the end of 2006 with the purpose of improving the environment around large cities. Gyoshev’s job is to make sure these commitments are kept. It’s no easy task, especially when if you’re determined to follow the principles of sustainable development. Gyoshev is one of 150 senior decision makers who took the Venice Course for Sustainability, a professional training programme for Central and Eastern Europe organised by the REC. From knowledge gained in the course, Gyoshev devised an expeditedtendering procedure that allows wastewater treatment plants to be financed and built in Bulgaria without getting bogged down in red tape. Financing challenges “Bulgaria’s urban water and sewerage infrastructure urgently needs to be extended, overhauled and upgraded from providing access to basic services to meeting the challenges of European legislation,” Gyoshev said. “Yet political constraints and affordability concerns are limiting the ability of utility companies to finance their work. This raises a huge challenge to the Bulgarian administration to identify projects and to assure their sustainability and viability. The major problems are caused by technical difficulties, changes in the environmental legislation and the operation of the facilities.” Gyoshev has had to learn to handle Catch-22 cases like the one involving the Bedecha and Maritsa rivers. In feasibility reports the rivers were categorised as “non-sensitive” areas as defined European Environment Commission European Economic Community directives, Gyoshev explained. Accordingly, a lower budget was given for the plants because the wastewater would require less treatment In the meantime the Bulgarian minister of environment and water re-classified all the sensitive river areas in the country. The new list included all major tributaries and other important rivers that pass through settlements, cross borders or have a low administrative capacity to clean themselves. Specific levels of nutrient removal would have to be reached in all these rivers. This is how the Bedechka and Maritza rivers were declared “sensitive,” while new wastewater treatment plants in the cities of Stara Zagora and Dimitrovgrad were allowed to discharge into the rivers without nutrient removal technology, Gyoshev said. Sustainability course The choice was tough — either the projects had to be amended, or additional financing needed to be found. At this juncture, Gyoshev’s knowledge of sustainable development was invaluable. In 2004, he had taken a Course for Sustainability in Venice. “At the course I committed to try and apply principles of sustainability for all new projects in the environmental sector, including large infrastructure projects like wastewater treatment plants,” he remembered. Thus the solution was found: “We immediately included a new option in the tender documentation for the water treatment plants in Stara Zagora and Dimitrovgrad. It stated that investors should be prepared to present a technology to discharge wastewater into a sensitive zone,” Gyoshev said. The Delegation of the European Commission in Sofia was informed about the problem. Gyoshev and his colleagues asked for a modification in the financial memorandum to get more money for the two projects. In August the addenda to the work contracts were signed by all parties, thus speeding up the projects. The Course for Sustainability <www.sustainablecee.net> is an educational programme designed to give members of various ministries and agencies a chance to examine the major approaches to sustainable development. The programme covers Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. Recently turned 32, Gyoshev represents a new generation of state officials in Central and Eastern Europe who received non-ideological education, chose their own career paths, and like the jobs they are doing. Gyoshev is aware of the somewhat negative public image of officials dealing with EU funds. Many in Bulgaria associate them with inefficiency and even corruption. But this is something Gyoshev sees changing. “For the first time now we are able to attract quality experts with foreign experience and keep them financially motivated, so they like and enjoy their jobs.” Indeed, from five staff members in 2001, his unit has grown to 30, a shift that brings new capacity and quality to work, he says. Choosing technologies The next challenge that Gyoshev is facing is to choose the right technology for sludge handling at the new wastewater treatment plants. “Initially open digesters, lime stabilisation, drying beds and composting plants were introduced,” he said. “In the meantime it became obvious that all these technologies have different environmental or operational disadvantages like odour problems, the maintenance of hygienic conditions and the necessity for bulking agents for the composting rocess,” Gyoshev explained. Currently the preferred bulking agent is straw. But calculations show that wastewater treatment plants would need between 16 and 38 percent of all available straw in the region. “By unconfirmed information only 30 to 40 percent of the straw produced is sold on the Bulgarian market while the remaining is just burned down or decomposed under new crops,” Gyoshev said. The problem is that there may be an initial shortage of straw which may cause market confrontation between future operators of wastewater treatment plants and farmers who breed stock. Another issue is what to do with the stabilised sludge. “It could be sold to farmers as fertiliser, but they do not trust its contents. It could be sent to the nearest mine for reclamation, but people there ask for physical samples and do not trust written declarations. The sludge could be disposed of in sanitary landfills but EU legislation forbids the disposal of organic waste in landfills. Problems like these oblige me to start looking for innovative approaches and be proactive in the preparation phase of the projects when it is easier for the issues to be resolved,” Gyoshev said.

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