The municipal councilors from "Vazrazhdane" signaled serious discrepancies in the public procurement for the replacement of the heat transmission network in the capital's "Druzhba" district worth 60 million leva. At a briefing, the municipal councilor and chairman of "Vazrazhdane"-Sofia, Deyan Nikolov, said that the audit of "Toplofikatsiya Sofia" initiated by the group has revealed preliminary data on a lack of about 40 million leva, and according to him, the company's management has not given satisfactory explanations for the costs.
Nikolov stated that within the last month “Vazrazhdane“ has sent official questions on the order and has carried out two on-site inspections in the company and a new meeting is forthcoming. He stressed that the group's expert estimates do not match the estimated value of “Toplofikatsiya“. According to them, the pipes that are laid in “Druzhba“ are usually purchased for about 1200-1300 leva depending on the diameter, which makes approximately 12-13 million leva for the entire required length. To these, at market prices, about 7 million leva were added for fittings, compensators, excavation and restoration activities, welding and control. Thus, the real cost of the project should be nearly 20 million leva, and assuming “luxury repairs“ – no more than 28 million leva.
“Toplofikatsiya“, however, cannot explain where at least 32-40 million leva went“, said Nikolov and added that during the meetings the company's management was unable to provide accurate information even about the value of the materials used and the availability of pipes for emergency repairs.
“I remind you that this is still a company that has over 2 billion in accumulated debts. I am, to put it mildly, shocked by several of the answers we receive at the meetings with "Toplofikatsiya", said Nikolov.
According to him, this behavior creates "serious panic and confusion" and confirms suspicions of potential large-scale abuses. He announced that the inspections are continuing and that a detailed calculation "pipe by pipe, weld by weld" will be required to prove the real value of the order.
Nikolov also criticized the way in which the company forms its estimated prices, indicating that an average price per linear meter from old orders is used, on which VAT is charged, without calculating specific activities at market values. He noted that similar repairs in Western Europe cost about 3-3.2 thousand leva per meter, while "Toplofikatsiya Sofia" stakes around 5.5 thousand leva.
Another topic that Deyan Nikolov touched on was the new structure of the municipal administration proposed by the mayor. He considers it “even more illegal“ than the previous version, as it limits the powers of the chief architect of Sofia in violation of the Spatial Planning Act. He stated that “Vazrazhdane“ will not support changes that remove the chief architect from the urban planning processes, despite the group's criticism of the current architect Panayotova. Nikolov emphasized that even if they consider her appointment inappropriate, the removal cannot occur through a violation of the law.