Constanta dolphinarium to be upgraded on two-year 5-mil-euro investment

An order to start works of extension and modernisation on the local dolphinarium in the city of Constanta on an investment of over 5 million euros was signed on Thursday by officials of the Constanta County Council and the winning consortium of the works tender. Works should be completed in 24 months.

"Today we are signing the start order for the expansion of the dolphinarium. (...) We wanted, first of all, to increase the number of mammals and that could only be done through an expansion of the dolphinarium. (...) This investment will bring the dolphinarium up to European standards. We are making this investment for Romanian tourism, for Constanta tourism, for foreign tourists. (...) I want the works to be completed on schedule, exactly as they ended in 2016, ahead of schedule. I hope that in 24 months visitors will benefit from this new, modern dolphinarium, at European standards," Constanta County Council Chair Marius Horia Tutuianu declared told a news conference on Thursday.

Manager of the Constanta Museum of Natural Sciences Adrian Bilba said the dolphin pool will expand from one million cubic metres to four million cubic metres, while its area will increase from 180 to 800 square metres, which would allow at least six dolphins to perform simultaneously.

"It is not easy to find five million euros today for such investment projects. It is difficult to find European funds for dolphinariums, but still he [Tutuianu] found at the Ministry of Tourism, at Mr Bogdan Trif a solution to get funded. And we have an important start, in 24 months, a new Dolphinarium," said Bilba, adding that he hopes that in 2021 he will find the necessary financing, of about 10 million euros, for the rehabilitation and modernisation of the local aquarium.

In August 2019, Constanta County Council Chair Marius Horia Tutuianu and Minister of Tourism Bogdan Trif signed a funding agreement for the expansion of the Constanta Dolphinarium, an investment of approximately 5.6 million euros. According to the technical documentation, the project is carried out within 24 months of the date the order to start the works is signed.