site.btaChengene Skele Port Awarded 2025 Blue Flag for Cleanliness and Sustainable Fishing Practices

Chengene Skele Port is among the Bulgarian sites that have received the Blue Flag Award in 2025. The award is given by the Denmark-based Foundation for Environmental Education, with over 50 countries participating in the programme. In order to qualify for the Blue Flag, a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety, and accessibility criteria must be met and maintained.

The port in Chengene Skele is one of the newest fishing ports near Burgas. It has 40 berths for boats and technical infrastructure, including water supply, power pedestals, video surveillance, sanitary facilities and vessel maintenance facilities. In the immediate vicinity is the fishing village of Chengene Skele, which also has a tourist complex.

"Receiving the Blue Flag means that the conditions under which we work are recognized," fisherman Nikolay Todorov told BTA, adding that fishermen in the area make efforts to preserve the environment. "Every year we organize several campaigns to clean the nearby beaches from plastic waste," he pointed out. "The place is well-maintained and peaceful. It is good that cleanliness and order are monitored," said Mira Stoycheva, who owns a boat.

Port workers added that the Blue Flag programme obliges them to maintain certain standards. As a result, at the beginning of 2025 Burgas Municipality announced that it had developed a project for the modernization of boat docks in several ports, among which is Chengene Skele. Investments are planned in facilities for the collection of obsolete fishing gear and the supply of specialized cleaning equipment for open spaces and parking lots.

BTA is presenting all 30 Bulgarian beaches and harbours awarded the Blue Flag by the international jury of the Programme in Copenhagen. It is the 30th anniversary of the first award for the country - the pilot Blue Flag was raised on Sunny Beach on July 4, 1995.