"We are strictly monitoring the condition of coastal sea waters and so far we have not found any deviations from the quality standards," said the Minister of Environment and Water Petar Dimitrov after a joint inspection at the beginning of the summer tourist season on the quality of the sea waters at Shkorpilovtsi beach, jointly with the Minister of Tourism Evtim Miloshev and the Minister of Health dr. Galya Kondeva.

Minister Petar Dimitrov explained that the Shkorpilovtsi beach was not chosen by chance as a sampling site. “Here there are both types of areas – a bathing area and coastal sea waters. Colleagues from the Regional Health Inspectorate will take samples from the bathing area, and we will take samples from the area of ​​coastal sea waters", said Minister Dimitrov and emphasized that the structures of the ministry constantly monitor not only water quality indicators, but also illegal discharges into the sea and if any are found, action is taken immediately.

Sampling from the coastal sea waters is carried out by specialists from the Basin Directorate "Black Sea Region" - Varna, the "Regional Laboratory - Varna" at the Environment Executive Agency and RIEW - Varna. The samples taken at the Shkorpilovtsi beach are the second for the day, previously samples were also taken from the Bolata beach. The sampling will continue, with a total of 20 scheduled for today and tomorrow.

In Shkorpilovtsi, express analyzes of the water were also carried out. Field test results for Ph, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, oxygen saturation and water salinity, which became clear within minutes, unequivocally show that the indicators are fully within quality standards. The results of the physico-chemical analysis will be ready and announced within 24 hours for some of the indicators, and for others – within 5 days.

The joint inspection on the quality of sea waters at the beginning of the summer tourist season comes a year after the explosion of the Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine, when it was necessary to refute the circulated false information about fears of pollution on our Black Sea coast as well.

After the event in "Nova Kohovka", the Ministry Environment and Water set up a very serious monitoring program, which was coordinated with all institutions, reminded Minister Dimitrov. “Every day we looked at likely sources of contamination in a pattern that showed where we might expect and whether we could expect contamination at all. The Naval School in Varna monitored the situation by satellite. We increased the monitoring points in many more sites, and we were already monitoring for floating pollutants, which were never detected," said Minister Dimitrov.

"That's why three ministers stand today to send our joint message that our sea is beautiful, the water is clean and guests are welcome on our Black Sea coast", pointed the Minister of Tourism Evtim Miloshev, emphasizing that this year we have a record number of blue flag beaches.

Dr. Galya Kondeva added that regional health inspectorates in the country continuously monitor the quality of water for bathing in the sea, with an emphasis on microbiological indicators. Yavor Dimitrov, the Director of the Basin Directorate "Black Sea Region" in Varna, confirmed that no illegal discharges into the sea have been detected on its territory so far.

The "Regional Laboratory - Varna" (RL - Varna) is part of the structure of the Main Directorate "Laboratory and Analytical Activity" at the Environment Executive Agency with the Ministry of Environment and Water. It has more than twenty years of experience as a testing laboratory with competence according to the requirements of Bulgarian State Standard. It provides data on the quality of surface and underground waters, as well as waters intended for drinking and domestic water supply, according to schedules submitted by the Basin Directorate "Black Sea Region" and the Basin Directorate "Danube Region". This activity complies with the requirements of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EEC for EU water policy. In the laboratory, samples are analyzed from all sampling sites for emission control of waste water discharging into water bodies, according to the control activity of RIEW - Varna. Information on the scope of accreditation can be found at the following link https://eea.government.bg/bg/labs. The quality of the data is guaranteed by annual checks to prove competence to work under accreditation and regular participation in inter-laboratory comparative tests and suitability tests, the results of which are a reliable attestation of high expert capacity.