Toplofikatsiya Sofia is on the verge of a deliberately staged collapse. This was announced by municipal councilors from “Save Sofia” at a briefing that was supposed to be a tour of the Sofia Thermal Power Plant with the media, but it did not take place because the management of Toplofikatsiya did not allow journalists to enter.
“The management of Toplofikatsiya clearly wants to hide the company's condition from the people of Sofia, but we will tell them what they do not want the citizens to see!”, said Boris Bonev - chairman of “Save Sofia”.
According to Emilia Angelova - member of the Finance Committee - “Toplofikatsiya” is without liquidity and there is a real possibility that it will not be able to provide gas for the upcoming heating season. “This is not just a matter of poor management – it is a risk for hundreds of thousands of Sofia residents, who may be left without heating and hot water in the middle of winter”, she stated.
At the beginning of the year, Angelova and other municipal councilors were allowed to visit the Sofia Thermal Power Plant, and then “Save Sofia” described the crumbling infrastructure and empty warehouses for materials. “It will be a true miracle if Sofia has heating this winter”, the party said at the time.
Angelova also revealed that back in September, Bulgargaz had requested from Toplofikatsiya a repayment plan and a schedule for paying off the swelling debt to it, so as not to stop gas supplies this winter. “To date, Toplofikatsiya has not made any commitment, and while the crisis is deepening, the company is illegally cutting down trees and breaking up inter-block spaces in Druzhba”, said Andrey Zografski.
On September 26, the company submitted a “recovery plan”, which provides for an investment loan for the construction of co-generation capacities. “For us, such an “investment” of 1.2 billion leva at a time when Toplofikatsiya is on the verge of collapse and there are no guaranteed gas supplies, is not just unreasonable - it is dangerous”, explained Angelova.
According to “Save Sofia”, everything points to a scenario in which the accounts will be frozen and then to “urgent” loan withdrawal. “This loan will be presented to us as the only solution and will be an occasion for plundering public resources, while some parties will adorn themselves with pumpkin medals as “saviors” of the heating are”, said Bonev.
“Save Sofia” has been warning about the scenario with the loan for months and according to them, this is exactly what GERB and BSP and the leadership they have chosen are hoping for. “In the created urgency, no one will pay attention to what prices, with what contractors and with what quality the largest investment in the modern history of Toplofikatsia to date would be realized and how much money will leak through corruption channels”, said Angelova.
“Save Sofia” insists on three specific actions that can normalize the situation - transparent competitions for the selection of management, to prepare an independent technical audit of Toplofikatsia, which would identify the greatest technical risks to the functioning of the company and if it comes to an investment loan, it must be under the supervision of an international financial institution, such as an anti-corruption measure.
“We do not understand the lack of reaction from Mayor Terziev. Despite his public requests since the summer for a concession for Toplofikatsiya, to date he has not proposed one to the Municipal Council, nor an action plan”, concluded Bonev. According to him, a future concession will not solve the problems quickly, namely, operational decisions must be made today, because debts continue to grow, the network is falling apart and any delay makes the situation irreversible.