Bulgarian village of Cherniche – Euro Village 2012

Tourism

The village of Cherniche, Simitli Municipality in Southwest Bulgaria has shown spirit of entrepreneurship and succeeded in renovating its infrastructure via funding under the EU Rural Development Programme. Its inhabitants, mostly young people are proud to describe the new things that have eased their life. Cherniche was selected first Bulgarian Euro Village in a competition with other settlements from this country, since it managed to absorb EUR 3 mln. in EU funding. The improvements made also keep young people here and they state firmly that their future is related exactly with Cherniche.

Ivan Andonov has been a mayor of the place for a second term, or a 5th consecutive year. “Our village is a young one, it was established back in 1912 and this year we celebrated its 100th anniversary,” the mayor explains. Cherniche is situated at a strategic spot and major road arteries cross it. One of them is the Sofia – Kulata railway at the Bulgarian – Greek border and only some one hundred meters away passes the Struma highway. According to Ivan Andonov this has determined the village’s dynamic development through the years. Young people do not leave the place, since they can travel easily to work both to the regional town of Blagoevgrad and the municipal centre of Simitli. Mayor Andovov is proud to say that the united efforts of the municipality in Simitli and the people of Chernichene have managed to mark a victory over skepticism, winning projects under the EU programme. The money has been used for the underground infrastructure of the village and the streets have been asphalted.

“There were quite many skeptics, regarding the winning of this project, but after all if you spend a lot of time and efforts, you can achieve almost everything,” Mr. Andonov says. “We managed to invest here over EUR 3 mln. and the village is now a really European one. The most important thing in a settlement is the replacement of the old water main that was 40 – 50 years old, just like everywhere across Bulgaria. The pipes were worn out and even harmful. So the first thing we did was to replace them. So now we don’t have a problem with water in summers, since its quantity almost doubled with the new pipes. The sewerage system was the other thing that we replaced. We expect a treatment plant to be constructed within a year. Then sidewalks were renewed, followed by new gardens, alleys and the asphalting finished the process. Now all we have to do is keep the place tidy and friendly for living.”

When people have some ambitions, things go on. Ivan Andonov reminds that perhaps another project is to be implemented within a year, as it has already been approved.

“We have a 30-year old park that needs basic repair works too. We will improve the resting conditions mainly for young people here through the implementation of this project – the creation of a new park. This is one of the things that this majority insists on. The other thing is the sports facilities. Our municipal school will be turned into a social institution with a modern sports center built up in it.”

Relations between people are very important in a village, Mayor Andonov goes on to say. “I have always said that scandals between neighbors and between any people are a very unpleasant phenomenon. I think that Cherniche can be taken as an example, regarding the lack of such incidents – they almost never happen.” People realize, the mayor adds that the only survival method in this crisis is our common work and joint efforts.

Text and photo: bnr.bg

(30.10.2012)