General information and infrastructure
Territory - 516 sq. km
Number of population centers - 19
Population - 68,947
Administrative center - Silistra city
The Municipality of Silistra has roads with a total length of 154.5 km. The first-class roads are 12.6 km long, the second-class ones - 38 km long and there are about 100 km of third- and fourth-class roads. The municipality has a railway station handling passenger and freight trains. The Port of Silistra is located at the 381-st km. of the River Danube. In the territory of the municipality there is the Silistra Airport, which is one of the small airports in Bulgaria. It can handle small and medium-sized passenger and cargo planes. The airport has not been used since 1989.
Economy and business
Municipal and private companies, which are central to the development of the municipality Municipal companies: Sineva EOOD, Diagnostic Consultation Center 1 EOOD, Municipal Markets EOOD. Private companies: Mekom AD - pig-breeding, meat production and meat processing; Fazerles AD - hardboard manufacturing; TPKI Dobrudzhanka - babywear, children's and women's wear and sportswear; Orgtehnika AD - electronic cash registers; electronic calculators; printed circuits; electroplating; ZMM Stomana AD - production of wood-processing machines; Dunav AD - clothing and knitwear; Kaumet AD - production of technical rubber products; Galax Oil OOD - production of refined sunflower and corn oil; Aktual OOD - meat processing and meat products; Purvi Mai AD - flour, grain production.
Successful privatization deals: Some of the successful privatization transactions are: the non-functioning administrative facilities of Zavodski Stroezhi - they were reorganized into a small enterprise producing electrical insulation items; the unfinished two-storey building of the former dental polyclinic was privatized and became Aesculapius, the first private medical center in the district; the Dounav Supermarket and a former laundry were reorganized into modern commercial establishments; the former kindergarten in the village of Aidemir was reorganized into a modern printing office. There will be a competitive sale of the former orphanage in the village of Kalipetrovo, where a small enterprise for organic food will be set up. There is available land, which is offered to entities providing transport and maintenance services. Commercial establishments situated in Silistra and the villages in the municipality are put up for sale via a public tender. Land and forests funds: Land - 49.09 sq.km; Forests - 0.8 sq.km.
Strategic projects and opportunities for foreign investments
The Public Forum Program funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation is implementing a project titled Possibilities of Growing Traditional and Introducing Alternative Fruit Trees in Silistra District. US Ambassador's Fund - a project called Restoration and Reconstruction of Kurshumlu Mosque; A Technical Twinning Program funded by the US Agency for International Development.
Projects still needing investment: Danubian Business Park; Projects under the programs From Social Benefits to Employment, Crop Preservation, Assistance upon Retirement, University Graduates Aged up to 29 Working in the Public Administration, Giving the Roma Access to Medical Care, Peers to Peers - 15 student clubs for drug prevention.
Natural sights and monuments of culture
The Sreburna Museum of Natural History is located in the Sreburna Biosphere Reserve, which is under the aegis of UNESCO. The International Coordinating Council of UNESCO defines it as a class A biosphere reserve. Only seventy sites in the world have such status. The reserve is 10 km away from the River Danube and covers 7sq.km. It is the temporary home to over 200 bird species exhibited in the Museum of Natural History. This is the only place in Bulgaria where the Dalmatian pelican stays. The town art gallery is the architectural landmark of Silistra and is over 100 years old. It has more than 1,500 works of art including paintings, black and white drawings and sculptures. The Museum of History is a combination of an architectural landmark and unique exhibitions. One of the most modern museums in Bulgaria, it displays tens of unique artifacts of Roman and Medieval Bulgarian culture, which have national and global significance. The museum contains over 60,000 movable cultural monuments. The immovable monuments with a special historical or cultural value in the municipality are: The architectural and archeological site called Durostorum-Drustur-Silistra 4-th c. A.D. - the site covers more than 2/3 of present-day Silistra and contains unique restored monuments of Roman and Medieval Bulgarian times; The ancient Roman tomb - a 4 c. monument of global significance with unique wall paintings, a Roman villa called Urbana, houses representing architectural monuments. The Museum of History has some permanent exhibitions too - Archeology and Ethnography. The Ethnographic Museum displays material and spiritual culture in South Dobroudja between 18th and 19th c. A.D. The Partenii Pavlovich Regional Library contains 292,046 items.
Environmental Protection and Tourism
The district has a number of registered tourist and hotel facilities operating in the field of tourism: the four-star Drustur Hotel on the bank of the Danube; Travel Agency Tur Istur AD/the Golden Dobroudja Hotel offering a trip along the Danube as part of a licensed tourist product called Danubian Romance, as well as a visit to the Sreburna Nature Reserve; Chefo 96 EOOD - a hotel in the Orehova Gora area; Bartimeks - Krustevi - a hotel in the town of Silistra; GID - Georgi Todorov - the Kalimaritsa Hotel Complex in the village of Vetren; Liuba Briz - a lodging house in the village of Sreburna. Travel Agency Oriks offering a trip along the Danube, a visit to an ethnographic house in the village of Alfatar and a visit to the Sreburna Nature Reserve; Travel Agency Neptun organizing trips to the Ukraine along the Danube.
Environmental protection
A project is underway to build a regional landfill for solid waste - Silistra, which will handle waste from 6 municipalities in Silistra District (Silistra, Alfatar, Dulovo, Sitovo, Kainardzha and Glavinitsa). External funding is sought for the implementation of projects for optimum use of recyclable materials contained in domestic waste, as well as for optimum use of organic waste. A project for a Joint Air Quality Monitoring System in the towns of Silistra and Calarasi has been implemented. A program for Reducing Emissions and Reaching Acceptable Levels of Hazardous Substances in Ambient Air in Silistra District has been developed and is about to be implemented. Efforts are made to find ways to attract investors to convert the town of Silistra to natural gas. A sewerage system and a water treatment plant for the village of Silistra will be built between 2003 and 2006. Options are being sought to build a waste water treatment plant for the town of Silistra. The highly fertile black soil is not damaged. No high levels of pollutants have been registered in the soil of the area. There are active landslides in some places.
Associations, memberships, twin-cities and partnerships
USA, City of Kettering, Ohio - a Memorandum for Technical Cooperation in Economic Development, Landscape Architecture, Education and Culture; Republic of Romania, Danube East Euroregion, Slobozia Municipality, Ialomita District - An agreement for establishing a Euroregion, twinning; Russia, town of Rzhev, Tver Region, town of Solnechnogorsk - a friendship and cooperation agreement; Republic of Turkey, town of Luleburgaz - a Twinning Agreement; Serbia and Montenegro, Kikinda Municipality, Leskovats Municipality - a twinning declaration; The Ukraine, town of Bolgrad, town of Hmelnitski; Macedonia, Veles Municipality; Greece, Komotini - Protocol of Intention /purpose - sign a twinning agreement/; The Municipality of Silistra is a member of: the Silistra-based Association for Crossborder Cooperation and Development called Danubian Dobroudja; the Agency for Economic Development and Investment - Silistra; the Dunav Association of Danube Municipalities and the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria.
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Bulgarian
