Tourism: Bulgarian neighbors boast excellent water

Europe has entered the holiday season and all states are doing their best to attract as many tourists as possible. All tests carried out on seawater samples taken along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast prove that it is of excellent quality, said Tourism Minister Evtim Miloshev, Environment and Water Minister Petar Dimitrov and Health Minister Galya Kondeva. One year ago the news came that the destruction of the "Nova Kakhovka" dam in Ukraine will also lead to pollution on our Black Sea coast, Minister Miloshev said. According to him, this fake news has negatively affected the season in Bulgaria. That's why he and two other ministers wanted to provide assurances that the water is clean and that guests are welcome on the Black Sea coast, which this year has a record number of beaches with blue flags. Minister Dimitrov added that checks on the cleanliness of the sea water outside the bathing areas are continuous. So far, no deviations from quality standards have been detected. He also emphasized that the Ministry's structures continuously monitor the presence of illegal discharges into the sea and that, if they are detected, measures are taken immediately. Minister Kondeva added that the Regional Health Inspectorates in the country continuously monitor the quality of bathing water from the sea, with an emphasis on microbiological indicators. Samples are also taken when alerts are received. She pointed out that there are 23 bathing areas in the Varna region. The water quality in 22 of them is excellent, only the southern beach of Varna has "good" quality. The information was confirmed by the director of the Regional Health Inspectorate - Varna, Prof. Tsonko Paunov. The head of the "Black Sea Region" Basin Directorate in Varna, Yavor Dimitrov, added that so far no illegal discharges into the sea have been detected on his territory. Water monitoring shows no deviations from quality standards.