Different positions have been taken by the municipalities in Gabrovo region ahead of the extraordinary meeting of the Water and Sewerage Association, scheduled for 7 July, at which the 2027–2031 business plan of Gabrovo Water and Sewerage will be considered.
The positions may ultimately have little influence on the plan’s future, however, because its final approval rests with the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC), which is not obliged to follow the municipalities’ positions.
While the Tryavna Municipal Council unanimously rejected the business plan, councillors in Sevlievo authorised the mayor to support it, but with the dissenting opinion of the chairman of the Water and Sewerage Association, Gabrovo Regional Governor Kristina Sidorova.
Higher water prices
The business plan envisages an increase of around 22.5% in the combined price of water and sewerage services for household consumers by 2031.
Under the company’s proposal, the combined price for household customers would rise from the current €2.524 per cubic metre to €3.092 by the end of the period. The increase covers the costs of water supply, wastewater collection and wastewater treatment.
Support with a dissenting opinion
Kristina Sidorova, chairman of the Water and Sewerage Association and regional governor of Gabrovo, has proposed that the business plan be approved with a dissenting opinion.
She argues that the proposed pace of price increases is too high and should be reconsidered.
Sidorova says the Association is not opposed to higher prices in principle, but insists that any increase must be reasonable, properly justified and result in a measurable improvement in the quality of the service – better drinking water, fewer breakdowns, rehabilitation of the water supply and sewerage network, improved customer service and greater efficiency at the company.
Her statement also warns that unjustifiably high prices do not necessarily guarantee higher revenues. Instead, they may lead to lower collection rates and effectively become a penalty for consumers who pay their bills regularly.
Water losses remain high
An even stronger criticism comes from monitoring the implementation of the agreement between the Water and Sewerage Association and Gabrovo Water and Sewerage over the past decade.
According to Sidorova’s dissenting opinion, the operator has systematically failed to meet the agreed “water losses” target, having failed to reach the target levels either after the fifth or the tenth year of the contract, despite repairs and infrastructure investments.
In 2024, water losses stood at 58.35%. By 2031, they are expected to fall to 52.35%.
In other words, more than half of the water would still fail to reach consumers’ taps.
Only two councillors in Sevlievo spoke out
Only two Sevlievo municipal councillors publicly expressed opposition to the proposed business plan – Svetla Georgieva of “Citizens for the Municipality” and Yordan Andreev of Revival.
Both cited the same concerns: the increase in water prices and the lack of sufficient justification that higher prices would actually improve the quality of the service.
In Tryavna, the opposition was unanimous. The entire Municipal Council and the local administration joined forces against the proposed business plan.
In a social media post, municipal councillor Boyan Grozev explained why:
“The proposed increase in prices is excessive and cannot be considered socially acceptable; no significant improvement in service quality has been demonstrated – neither in terms of water turbidity nor water losses; the company’s financial situation can be improved through other measures, not only by raising prices; and the investments requested by the Tryavna Municipal Council continue to be postponed, despite being essential for a genuine improvement in the service.”
Municipal positions are advisory
The votes of municipalities in the Water and Sewerage Association are treated by the EWRC as positions, and the regulator is not legally bound by them when making its final decision.
According to a publication on the EWRC website, however, the regulator “strictly observes the requirement to consider and approve only those business plans which, before being submitted to the regulator, have already received a positive opinion from the regional Water and Sewerage Associations, where all municipalities in the respective region are members”.
The commission says this ensures that it already knows that the local community has expressed its agreement with the parameters of the business plan – including service prices, development programmes, investments and remuneration.
This means that the way municipal representatives vote in the Water and Sewerage Association, and the position they ultimately adopt, is far from irrelevant.
