Ministry of Tourism on Standby for Action if Needed in Connection with the Destroyed Dam in Ukraine

Minister Zaritsa Dinkova held a working meeting and sent a letter to the concessionaires of beaches

Tourism Minister Zaritsa Dinkova sent a letter to the concessionaires of beaches, informing them about the actions taken in relation to the situation created after the destruction of the dam wall of Kakhovka and calling on them to take an active position in any situation in which they consider that they need assistance.

Minister Dinkova held a working meeting on Friday at the Ministry of Tourism, during which an organisation was set up for coordinated action with the Ministry of Environment and Water in relation to the concerns expressed about the potential danger of pollution of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.

For this purpose, the Ministry of Tourism requested daily information from the Ministry of Environment and Water, which receives summarized data on the state of the waters in the Black Sea, as well as a weekly summary from the Ministry of Interior on the safety of the beaches along the Bulgarian coast.

‘There is no evidence of contamination at this time. For a successful and peaceful summer season it is of utmost importance to keep intact Bulgaria's tourist product and all Bulgarian Black Sea beaches clean and safe for tourists. We rely on our partnership with you and we invite you in any case in which you deem it necessary, without hesitation, to submit alerts so that we can work together to respond promptly to any signs of pollution on our coastline,’ reads the letter with which the Minister addressed the concessionaires and tenants who manage Bulgarian beaches. 

Alerts can be submitted to the Green Line of the Ministry of Environment and Water: 0887 088440 or 02/9888205, and by e-mail: nccw@moew.government.bg The competent teams of the Ministry of Tourism are ready to assist.

There is no evidence of contamination and exceedances to date in the Bulgarian Black Sea coastal area following the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam located on the Dnieper River in Ukraine. This is according to the data from the enhanced monitoring, which the Minister of Environment and Water commissioned on June 8 in connection with the incident. The monitoring tracks the potential impact of the waters along the Dnieper River on the Black Sea. So far, no exceedances have been detected for any of the indicators tested — petroleum products, metals, the radionuclides caesium-137 and tritium.

However, the Ministry of Tourism and the competent institutions — the Ministry of Environment and Water, the Black Sea Basin Directorate (BSBD) — Varna, the Executive Environment Agency (EEA) and the Varna Regional Administration are ready to respond promptly to any potential alarming situation related to pollution of the Bulgarian coastal sea waters.

According to the current official data of the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Kyiv Regional State Administration, the main indicators of the ecological situation are within normal limits, and no elevated pollution levels have been found due to the flooding caused by the terrorist act against the Kakhovka dam. From the official information portal of ‘Khersonvodokanal’ and ‘Infoxvodokanal Odessa’ it is reported that drinking water in the mentioned cities meets the required standards. Daily samples show that there is no contamination.

There is no evidence of direct adverse effects in Moldova.

The Bulgarian diplomatic and consular missions in Ukraine, Romania and Moldova are monitoring the situation with caution. The Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water receives daily information on developments in the case and is in constant contact with the Ministry of Tourism.

We would like to remind you that the Ministry of Environment and Water commissioned mathematical modelling of the potential spread of the slick to the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.

Daily information on the water status in the Black Sea can be found on the website of the Regional Health Inspectorate HERE and HERE .