site.btaConvening Extraordinary Meeting of Parliamentary Committee on Water Shortage Is Populism, Attempt to Shift Responsibility, CC-DB Say

The convening of an extraordinary meeting of Parliament’s Environment Committee to “urgently” address the water shortage problem represents an attempt by Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) – New Beginning Floor Leader Delyan Peevski and the majority he controls to shift responsibility from the executive branch to the National Assembly, the Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria parliamentary group (CC-DB) said in a press release on Wednesday.

“This is an act of political populism that cannot lead to lasting and effective solutions, since the management of the water sector falls entirely under the government’s authority,” CC-DB added.

On Tuesday, Peevski urged National Assembly Chair Nataliya Kiselova to convene an extraordinary meeting of Parliament’s Environment Committee to draft and adopt a National Assembly decision for the immediate, effective, and decisive resolution of the systemic water crisis in Bulgaria.

In their statement on Wednesday, CC-DB recall that, following their proposal on December 11, 2024, an ad-hoc committee on the water shortage had been established, which in early July 2025 adopted a report with specific action recommendations based on expert opinions. “For unexplained reasons, this report was not tabled by the ruling majority for approval in Parliament and remains on the desk of Parliament Chair Nataliya Kiselova,” the coalition’s position reads.

“Today’s crisis is the result of many years of GERB’s governance, during which the water shortage problem was repeatedly swept under the rug, and many of the completed projects are severely compromised by poor execution, theft, and corruption,” CC-DB further said. “Dams were built without supporting infrastructure and without an analysis of their necessity, millions were spent on pipelines that have yet to be legalized for years, tens of billions were spent on water infrastructure, and Bulgaria ranks at the top in Europe for population under water restrictions each year, as well as for water losses,” CC-DB noted.

According to them, the responsibility for addressing the consequences rests with the executive branch, represented by Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov.

CC-DB also noted that the 2025 state budget did not allocate funds to tackle the water shortage, and proposals to finance the most affected regions were rejected in Parliament.