Investors, local community disagree over famous Romanian Black Sea salty lake exploitation

The local community in Techirghiol, a town in southern Romania’s Constanta county, close to the Black Sea, expressed worries that a potential private exploitation of the balneal resources of the Techirghiol lake could limit its access to the lake’s mud and salt waters, Adevarul reported. The worries were expressed at a public debate organized on May 17 in Techirghiol. The lake’s water is high in salt content, which led to the formation of mud with therapeutic properties for certain conditions. Because of this, a sanatorium was set up in Techirghiol in 1899. The Techirghiol City Hall and the Romanian Ornithological Society are the custodians of the lake, tasked with seeing that this nature resource is protected. Formin Techirghiol is the company that could exploit part of the lake’s resources, Adevarul reported. The Caransebes-based company received in 2013 from the National Agency for Mineral Resources a license to explore a part of the lake (Techirghiol Gughiş). After performing a study, the company is looking to receive the license to exploit the lake’s resources. The exploitation activities of the lake are currently owned, on a different surface, by the Techirghiol Balneal and Recovery Sanatorium, an institution subordinated to the Health Ministry. Formin also received a license to exploit the Techirghiol Est sector of the lake, Adevarul wrote. Formin Techirghiol is backed up by Abris Lelbach, the German businessman who is also a shareholder in the Werder Bremen football team, according to Adevarul. The businessman also wants to take over local football team CFR Cluj and build a luxury complex on the Techirghiol lake shore, according to the same source. “It is about breaking a monopoly here. Look at the example of the Dead Sea, where opening the exploitation of resources led to the development of international tourism. The Techirghiol lake is still not exploited to its true potential. The studies are old, from before 1989, and we do not know if the water kept its therapeutic properties. We don’t want to steal anyone’s resource, we just want to make a profit, like any company, from an activity we want to undertake in partnership with the Techirghiol City Hall and the Techirghiol Balneal Sanatorium,” said Tiberiu Duma, the director of Formin, quoted by Adevarul. Meanwhile, the city plans to organize a referendum on the issue, said the Techirghiol mayor Iulian Soceanu. “We will consult the citizens on whether they agree that the resources of the lake can leave the country. The investor is welcome anytime, new jobs are created, money come to town. But not at any price,” the mayor said, quoted by Adevarul. The city’s deputy mayor referenced the situation in Rosia Montana. “I am afraid that Techirghiol, everybody’s resort, will become only our town. We have seen so many times what happened with the country’s nature resources. Do you want to have another Rosia Monata here, a salted one?,” deputy mayor Florin Zisu said.