Water (ВиК)

Almost every province has its own regional water company; Sofia is served by a concession, and in Pazardzhik the regional company is in liquidation with the service split across municipal operators. The Bulgarian Water Holding is the principal of 27 of the regional companies, but the parent buys almost nothing — the procurement is in the operators themselves.

The sector is 45 buyers, 42 of them water utilities, with €3.3bn of public procurement since 2011 (current value after annexes). 54.6% of their contracts drew a single bid — against 41.8% across all buyers. EU programmes have contracted them €1411M and paid €556M. In 2024, 5.8% of the population lived under water rationing (NSI).

What you'll find

• Water operators — every operator with its procurement, single-bidder share and EU funds, on a map and in a table.
• Water-sector procurement — what the operators buy by function, competition by operator and the contractors.
• Rationing and access — the share of people under water rationing, on public water supply and with wastewater treatment (NSI).
• Riverbed cleaning — spend on cleaning and regulating riverbeds and gullies, by awarder and province.
• EU funds — programme funds contracted and paid to the water operators (ИСУН).

These figures come from different sources and do not add up. Riverbed cleaning (€310M) is selected by contract subject, from every awarder — it is not part of the operators' procurement.

See also the Bulgarian Water Holding as a buyer and all sectors.

Source: АОП/ЦАИС ЕОП, ИСУН, NSI.