The Sofia Municipal Council (SOS) adopted a report to increase the capital of the municipal company "Stolich Elektrotransport" EAD by nearly 41.8 million euros. The funds will be used for advance payments under contracts for the supply of new rolling stock for urban transport, BTA reports.
The report was submitted by the deputy mayors of the Sofia Municipality Georgi Klisurski and Viktor Chaushev, as well as by municipal councilors. It is planned that the Sofia Municipality will make a cash contribution by issuing new shares in the company's capital.
The funds will be used to make advance payments for the purchase of 20 new low-floor air-conditioned articulated trams, 40 articulated trolleybuses, 35 trolleybuses of the “Skoda Electric“ brand and 50 new fast-charging electric buses, as well as a total of 16 charging stations.
The goal is to ensure the necessary payments on time under the already concluded contracts in order to avoid the risk of their termination. The Municipality states that due to the lack of a state budget for 2026, which also delays the adoption of municipal budgets, the financing has been postponed, but the approaching deadlines for contracts require timely provision of funds.
The new rolling stock will allow the implementation of a decision of the Municipal Administrative Council of April 30 to open five new trolleybus lines, two new electric bus lines, electrification of six existing bus lines, extension of two trolleybus lines and improvement of the operating intervals on two other lines.
The reasons for the report state that the renewal of the rolling stock is necessary due to the high degree of depreciation of some of the vehicles. The Municipality notes that currently 67 of the over 200 trams in Sofia are within their standard 30-year operating period, while the rest do not meet modern requirements for low noise levels, air conditioning and an accessible environment.
The acquisition of the new vehicles will improve conditions on existing lines and create opportunities for opening new transport connections and replacing part of the bus lines with electric transport, the report also states.