On the 23rd of December 2025, the Subsidy Contract of the strategic project ‘Cross Border Planning and Infrastructure Measures for Flood Protection’ (Flood Protection 2) was signed by Mr. Nikolaos Papathanasis, Alternate Minister of Economy and Finance of Greece.
The Flood Protection 2 project has a total budget of €5.461.812,35 with 80% (€4.369.449,88 million) co-financed by the European Union. The project falls under Priority 1 – A more Resilient & Greener Greece-Bulgaria Cross-Border Territory and addresses Specific Objective 2.4 – Promoting climate change adaptation and disaster risk prevention, resilience taking into account ecosystem-based approaches.
Building on the previous Flood Protection project (2014–2020), the project aims to strengthen flood protection in the cross-border region of Greece-Bulgaria, focusing on high-risk areas along the Struma/ Strymon, Arda/Ardas and Maritsa/Evros river basins. These rivers are vital for both the environment and local economies, but face increasing threats from climate change and human activity. The project’s planned activities include structural and nature-based interventions, the installation of technological and monitoring tools and awareness-raising actions.
The expected outcomes of the project are:
- the improvement of water flow in riverbeds and of the protective infrastructure along the rivers, reducing the risk of flooding
- the reduction of negative economic and social implications caused by floods
- the increase in the awareness and readiness of the population for prompt reaction in case of floods and
- the enhancement of the Project Beneficiaries’ capacity for better preparedness in risk response actions and prompt reaction during unexpected floods, using special equipment
The partnership consists of the Region of Central Macedonia (GR) as the Lead Beneficiary, the Region of East Macedonia and Thrace (GR), the Regional Administration of Blagoevgrad (BG), the District Administration of Haskovo (BG), the Regional Administration of Kardzhali (BG) and the District Administration of Smolyan (BG) as Project Beneficiaries. The project will run for a period of 36 months.