Plovdiv, Vidin municipalities sign projects to reduce air pollution from heating
Contracts have been signed on projects for Bulgaria’s municipalities of Plovdiv and Vidin to improve air quality by reducing fine particulate matter (PM10) emissions from solid fuel heating. The implementation of the projects to reduce air pollution from heating will contribute to air quality improvement for approximately 345,000 residents of the Plovdiv municipality and 52,000 […]
TENDERING: Bids invited to deploy public bicycle system in Belgrade
The City of Belgrade’s transportation secretariat has issued an invitation to bid for a project to deploy a public bicycle system in the Serbian capital, with Belgraders likely to start using the first public bicycles in spring 2020. Deputy Mayor Goran Vesić said earlier that Belgrade is one of the few European capitals without a […]
EU refers Bulgaria to court for high values of SO2 caused by coal-fired power plants
The European Commission has decided to refer Bulgaria and Spain to the Court of Justice of the EU over poor air quality. The reason in Bulgaria’s case is failing to respect the limit values of sulfur dioxide (SO2). This decision is part of reinforced action by the European Commission (EC) to engage with EU Member […]
Serbia invests EUR 598 million in environmental protection since 2001, backed by EUR 402 million in EU donations
Since 2001, EUR 598 million has been invested in environmental protection in Serbia, of which EUR 402 million was donated by the European Union and the rest by the Republic of Serbia. The EU grants were used for the construction of wastewater treatment plants, the reduction of pollution from the thermal power plants (TPPs) owned […]
BiH, North Macedonia most polluted countries in Europe – report
People in the Western Balkans breathe the most polluted air in Europe, with as many as eight cities in the region ranked among the world’s most polluted 10% in 2018. In the latest report by the IQAir AirVisual, which provides an air quality monitoring app increasingly used in the region, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North […]
Balkan region maintaining record high air pollution, doesn’t tackle main sources
Author: Vlatka Matković Puljić, Senior Policy Officer, Health and Energy, Health & Environment Alliance (HEAL) Yet another year, this winter, air pollution hits countries in the Balkan region hard – most of them for many consecutive days struggle with air pollution that is unhealthy to breathe. New World Health Organization (WHO) data[1] shows that Macedonia […]
Fines for sale of low-quality solid fuels for households come into effect
Bulgaria has introduced fines for the sale of low-quality solid fuels for household heating. The fines have been introduced under changes to the Law on Clean Atmospheric Air, which came into effect a few days ago, with fine amounts ranging from BGN 100 to BGN 50,000, the Bulgarian media reported. Fines for selling low-quality firewood […]
Montenegro opens chapter 27 of EU accession talks
Montenegro has opened chapter 27 of EU membership negotiations, which deals with the environment and climate change. To provisionally close the most demanding and expensive chapter of EU accession talks, Montenegro will have to meet benchmarks concerning matters from air quality to the water sector and the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), according to […]