„The leaked recordings dealt a heavy blow to the image of the Sofia Municipality. This is not how it works and these are more likely exceptions”. This is how the municipal councilor from "Blue Sofia" and deputy chairman of SOS Vili Lilkov commented on the situation with the accusations of pressure and corruption practices in the Sofia Municipality in the „Offensive with Lyubo Ognyanov”. Lilkov called what happened “an ugly scene”.
The scandal caused a “wave” of resignations. The co-chairman of “Continuing the Change” Kiril Petkov said that he would also submit one. Sofia Deputy Mayor Nikola Barbutov remains in custody. “He had a good reputation among the municipal officials”, Lilkov pointed out.
The Deputy Chairman of the SOS emphasized that he had analyzed the situation. “I wondered how the district mayors could have reacted. They could have signaled the mayor of Sofia - after all, he is above the deputy mayors and the district mayors. They could have informed the police or presented their considerations to the party's national council. However, they decided to do it through press conferences. The question is what the Sofia Municipality will do from now on,” Lilkov pointed out. According to him, an inspectorate for prevention and fight against corruption should be appointed to each municipality.
In the words of the municipal councilor from “Save Sofia”, the capital’s budget is “a socialist budget”. It has been like this for the last 15 years. “The budget plan is without any reforms and new policies, that’s why we voted “against”, he emphasized.