After a three-year delay and without any fanfare, the constructed drinking water treatment plant in Shumen, funded with European money, was finally put into operation.
The facility, valued at 26 million BGN, was built under the Operational Program “Environment” (2014-2020). According to the initial project, it was supposed to be completed by April 4, 2022.
However, its commissioning was delayed by a full three years, with various excuses given for the postponement—poor weather conditions, COVID-19, inflation, property ownership issues, and others.
Just before the commissioning deadline in February 2022, it became clear there was a significant delay in the construction of the water treatment plant. The Water Company in Shumen explained the postponement with “poor weather conditions during the winter.” However, that particular winter was record-breaking in warmth, a fact confirmed by meteorologists.
Later, the water utility announced that the deadline for the plant had been extended by three months, and in June 2022, they declared that the project was in its final stage. Yet, this so-called “final stage” stretched on for nearly three years, during which residents of Shumen drank unfiltered water. To this day, no one has answered our question about what penalties the contractor paid for the project delay.
The shadow of G PG Group
At the end of April 2020, the Water Company in Shumen selected the only remaining participant in the final round of the construction competition — the “Kristalna Voda” consortium. It included the Sofia-based firm “Obonato Build” and the Hungarian company Pureco. At the time of the tender, the first company was owned by Dimitar Pantaleyev, who, through “Vip-Stil 2005,” was a partner with three shareholders in the construction giant G PG Group. All other participants were disqualified by the procurement commission for various reasons.
A similar process took place later for selecting the construction supervision, where again only one candidate remained at the final stage, with G PG Group’s influence suspected once more behind the scenes of the winning company.
In 2024, the Managing Authority under the Operational Program “Environment” imposed a financial correction of over 5 million BGN on the Water Supply and Sewerage Company (Vik–Shumen) for the project to build a drinking water treatment plant. The penalty was imposed due to violations of the Public Procurement Law and was linked to the contract with the contractor DZZD “Kristalna Voda.” The correction amounted to 25% of the contract value, which was 21 million BGN (excluding VAT).
The decision by the Managing Authority was upheld by the Administrative Court in Shumen, where Vik–Shumen appealed the sanctions. The court’s reasoning was that the selected contractor was treated more favorably compared to other candidates, as differing approaches were applied for identical technical discrepancies, in violation of the principles of equality and non-discrimination.
However, Vik–Shumen appealed the court decision, and in February 2025, the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) annulled the imposed financial correction for the construction of the treatment plant. According to the SAC, there was no discrepancy between the technical specifications of the contracting authority and the decisions of the Shumen judges, and the latter’s ruling was deemed incorrect.
According to the European project, the Shumen treatment plant was supposed to be completed within 545 calendar days, which expired in April 2022. Up until October 2021, Vik–Shumen reported to the media that construction was on schedule and almost at the finish line. Suddenly, in February 2022, reports of delays appeared. When asked about this discrepancy, Vik–Shumen explained that the construction was “paused for short periods during winter due to adverse weather conditions that impeded the technological execution of construction activities” (quote from their press release). Afterwards, Vik–Shumen stopped responding to questions about the reasons for the delays.
By the end of 2024, Vik–Shumen announced that the water treatment plant was finally completed, but it could not be put into operation because of land ownership issues. It was revealed that the site is classified as “agricultural land” and must be converted to state public property. The procedure for changing the land ownership status took several more months. Meanwhile, for over half a year, the water in Shumen’s taps was unsuitable for drinking and cooking, yet residents continued to pay some of the highest prices in the country.
No ribbon-cutting ceremony
On March 10, 2025, after a three-year delay, the treatment plant was quietly put into operation. There were no official opening ceremonies, no ribbon-cutting, not even a press release to the media. The news of the plant’s commissioning became known the next day during a visit by the regional minister Ivan Ivanov, who announced that “since yesterday, the residents of Shumen are drinking clean water.”
The drinking water treatment plant will serve about 83,000 people in the city of Shumen and the villages of Belokopitovo, Dibich, and Panayot Volov. In response to questions from “Za Istinata,” the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRDPW) stated that after the plant’s launch, the water in Shumen meets all safety standards, as confirmed by continuous monitoring from the Regional Health Inspectorate.
Water purification process
“The raw water entering from the Ticha dam is purified using screens, macro-screens, and micro-screens. When the water has high suspension and colloidal content (non-compliance with the turbidity parameter), reagents are added, enabling direct coagulation, after which the water is purified through rapid sand filters made of quartz sand with grain sizes of 0.8 to 1.4 mm. The filter cells are also equipped with a Johnson-type drainage system for better water drainage,” said MRDPW.
The ministry further reported that, during the plant’s commissioning, eight water samples were taken from different locations in Shumen and tested against 22 parameters. All results complied with the requirements of Ordinance No. 9 on drinking water quality, the ministry added.
