Bulgaria faces payments of between 30 000 and 50 000 euro a day if the European Court of Justice finds it guilty of failing to get rid of its baled waste, Deputy Environment Minister Evdokia Maneva said on September 3 2009.

Speaking at a public discussion attended by about 200 residents about a proposal by the southern municipality of Plovdiv to allow 100 000 tons of packaged rubbish at its regional depot in Tsalapitsa village, Maneva appealed for solidarity to prevent the refuse problem proliferating to a national level.

She said that the European Commission is expected to lodge court action in the Luxembourg-based court as early as this month against the bales lingering in the Bulgarian capital.

The infringement procedure was initiated in October 2007. If the claim is accepted, the procedure is repeated and Bulgaria face new legal action, it risks sanctions calculated on the basis of its gross domestic product (GDP).

Maneva said that the compensation that Plovdiv would receive from the state would be invested in key infrastructure projects at the municipality. The first 800 000 leva payment will be made by the end of the month to finance the cleanup of the Maritsa river bed.

Bulgaria could be in for yet another infringement procedure unless it launches construction of 23 regional waste depots by the end of the year. It was supposed to have the facilities up and running by mid-July. The new environment ministry should draw up a detailed building agenda by the end of September.

Source: Dnevnik.bg