Novinite: Bulgaria’s Environment Minister: Shale Gas Moratorium Will Remain in Place
Bulgaria’s new Environment Minister, Ivelina Vasileva, has vowed to keep the 2012 moratorium on the exploration and production of shale gas through hydraulic fracturing.
In a Sunday interview for bTV, Vasileva insisted that the authorities would not allow illegal and uncontrolled construction. She pledged clearly mapped protected areas on the Black Sea coast.
Vasileva, as cited by Sega daily, listed a number of priority tasks for the Environment Ministry, including the announcement of protected areas by habitats, which had to be completed by end-2014, following an EU Directive, as well as the approval of special dune maps, and the provision of support to Bulgarian municipalities for the preparation of detailed spatial development plans.