• Minister Popov suggested holding a public discussion for the project in Bulgaria.
• The Ministry of Environment and Water requested more facts, studies, and analyses regarding the existence of a risk for the citizens of the city of Ruse and relevant prevention efforts.

The Ministry of Environment and Water sent its opinion on the investment intention presented by the Romanian Ministry of the Environment, Water and Forests for the construction of an incinerator in the city of Giurgiu.

The MOEW requested additional information related to air quality and other components and factors of the environment during the implementation of the project, which are of primary importance for the protection of the health and well-being of Bulgarian citizens.

According to the MOEW, to ensure an opportunity for expression of opinion on the degree of significance of the impact and the risk to human health, it is necessary that the information contains sufficient facts, data, studies, and justification of the analyses made on the basis of them and conclusions about the presence and degree of health risk for the population of Ruse, during the implementation of the investment proposal.

The Ministry of Environment and Water provided the Romanian Ministry with the opinions obtained during the consultations, as well as the results obtained through the open public access, including the position of civil associations in the city of Ruse.

The requirement of the MOEW is that the information in the EIA report be revised and supplemented, in accordance with the described remarks, and presented again for sending to the competent authorities and the interested stakeholders.

After considering the potential impact and the close proximity to the city of Ruse, Minister Popov expressed his wish to his Romanian counterpart that the Republic of Bulgaria be included in the Environmental Impact Assessment procedure.

Given the importance of the topic for the citizens of the city of Ruse, Minister Popov proposes that after revising the report to address remarks and amendments a public discussion should be organized of the investment proposal on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria.