Bulgaria has no intention of negotiating a new agreement with Greece over the waters of the Arda River, as no such agreement has ever existed, former Environment Minister Assen Lichev told BGNES in an interview.
Lichev, who held the post from May 12, 2021, to December 13, 2021, stated that what Greece refers to as a “past agreement” was in fact a reparations accord that expired on July 9, 2024. Under that arrangement, Bulgaria provided Greece with 186 million cubic meters of regulated water annually for 60 years as part of compensation outlined in the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty.
“Bulgaria has fulfilled its obligations and is no longer bound by this treaty,” Lichev said. “No further negotiations are necessary.”
He accused Greece of attempting to shift responsibility for managing Arda’s waters onto Bulgaria due to its own lack of infrastructure. According to Lichev, Bulgaria already sends 1.072 billion cubic meters of water to Greece annually, and the country lacks adequate reservoirs and irrigation systems to handle these flows efficiently.
“Almost all the rivers in northern Greece originate in Bulgaria,” he added, citing data showing that Bulgaria’s outflow into Greece from the Arda, Mesta, and Struma rivers amounts to 5.17 billion cubic meters annually.
Lichev insisted that water management should remain under the framework of the EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), which mandates cooperation between member states without requiring new bilateral agreements.
“Fresh water is a scarce resource,” he said. “Those who trade their water will be left thirsty.”
