The Sofia Municipality is finalizing the procedures for selecting contractors for two of the zones of Sofia - Zone 2 (the districts of "Vazrazhdane", "Oborishte", the central part of "Triaditsa") and Zone 5 ("Iskar", "Kremikovtsi" and "Pancharevo"). The signing of the contracts guarantees long-term stability of waste collection and disposal until 2031. The service will be performed under significantly stricter control and at prices that protect the public interest - 145.72 euros (approximately 285 BGN) per ton for household waste and 102.26 euros (approximately 200 BGN) per ton for bulky waste.
The process of negotiating the new prices went through two stages in full compliance with the Public Procurement Act (PPA):
Contract according to the offer: According to the law, the Sofia Municipality initially concluded contracts with the selected contractors at the prices submitted in their initial offers during the procedure.
Immediate annex for reduction: Immediately after the signing of the main contract, annexes were concluded to carry out the activities at lower prices. The reason for this was an official letter from the company, sent between the completion of the commission's work and the finalization of the contract documents. In it, they declared their readiness to perform the activities at lower rates than initially proposed.
In this way, the municipality guarantees that at no time were activities performed at higher initial prices, while at the same time the procedure remains legally impeccable.
“We are keeping our commitment to the people of Sofia - not to sign long-term contracts at prices that harm the city. We have always said that we will look for a way to protect the public interest and will not allow the price of the service to increase without a real improvement in quality,“ stated the mayor of the capital, Vasil Terziev.
Context and court decisions: The procedures continue
The Sofia Municipality informed last week that it will fully implement the decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) on the remaining procedures:
Zones 1, 4 and 6: The court returns the procedures to the “classification“ stage (1 and 6) or assessment of admissibility (4). The mayor will appoint a new commission to carry out the actions in accordance with the court's instructions.
Zone 3: The SAC confirmed the municipality's decision to terminate the procedure. The service there continues to be successfully implemented with municipal capacity.
Municipal capacity as a guarantor of stability
In parallel with the new contracts, the Sofia Municipality continues to develop its own resources. In six metropolitan districts - “Lyulin“, “Krasno Selo“, “Krasna Polyana“, “Poduyane“, “Slatina“ and “Izgrev“, the cleaning is being carried out successfully with municipal capacity. This became possible after the expansion of the capabilities of municipal enterprises during the crisis months.
Improving separate collection remains a strategic priority
Although the system for separate collection of packaging waste is separate from household waste collection, it is key: over 60% of the contents of gray containers are currently recyclable materials (cardboard, plastic, glass), which burden the Waste Plant and shorten the life of landfills.
The pilot municipal model in “Ovcha Kupel“ and “Kremikovtsi“, approved by the Sofia Municipal Council on February 26, provides for:
66% increase in containers: The number of colored containers increases from 504 to 837.
New type of containers “Rakla“: They replace the old “iglute“, with larger “lid-in-lid“ openings, facilitating the disposal of boxes from commercial establishments.
Municipal management: The service will be provided by the municipal company “Sofekostroy“. The investment of 439,319 euros will be recovered within two and a half years through revenues from recyclable materials and saved landfill fees.
With these steps, the Sofia Municipality is finalizing the transition to a more transparent and fair model of waste management, in which control is in the hands of the administration, and citizens' money is invested in improving the cleanliness system.