TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGIES WITH THEIR PROVED ADVANTAGES WILL FIND A WIDER APPLICATION IN OUR COUNTRY

15 July 2010

First national conference with demonstration “Modern technologies and materials for water supply and sewerage infrastructure construction: New opportunities and solutions for the Bulgarian municipalities” was held on July 8th and 9th in Imperial Hotel in Plovdiv. The event was held under the auspices of Mr. Ivan Totev, District Governor of Plovdiv.

Mr. Totev opened the Conference, as he noted that it would be pleasure for him, if Plovdiv hosts also the next conference on the same theme.

He read a welcoming message to the participants from Mr. Boyko Borisov, Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The Prime Minister greeted the participants, as he emphasized that there is a lot of work to be done in water supply and sewerage sector and only with the joint efforts of mayors, designers, specialists in water supply and sewerage sector and business representatives we will be able to register positive results. “I would like to congratulate the organizers namely the Bulgarian Association for Trenchless Technologies and to express my belief that modern technologies will be successfully applied in our country,” the greeting message also reads.

Mr. Totev read also a greeting message to the participants in the forum from Ms. Nona Karadjova, Minister of Environment and Waters.

Ms. Ekaterina Zaharieva, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works greeted the delegates on behalf of Mr. Rosen Plevneliev, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works. In her speech she highlighted the great importance of conferences like this one, where all water sector specialists discuss ideas and opportunities for cooperation. She marked the next steps for the sector development, as she put the accent on the creation of water supply and sewerage strategy, as well as developing a model of public-private partnerships.

The Chairman of BATT, Mr. Stefan Zhelyazkov expressed his belief that trenchless technologies, with their proved advantages, will have a wider application in our country. He declared the organizers’ idea of holding a second but this time international conference with demonstrations in the autumn in Plovdiv.

Mr. Zdravko Sechkov, Executive Director of Foundation for Local Government Reform, partner of the event, also greeted the participants.

Representatives of the sponsoring companies namely Hobas Bulgaria, Wilo Bulgaria, Hawle Bulgaria, Stroitelna Mehanizatsia AD and Sekisui made presentations. The topics gave raise to discussions that usually continued also during the breaks.

Demonstrations of two trenchless methods namely installation of spirally wound pipe with a machine delivered from Australia and installation of cured-in-place liner system-Phoenix, aroused a great interest and a lot of questions.

More than 170 representatives of ministries, municipalities, designers’ bureaus, water supply and sewerage companies took part in the conference.