"At the moment, no increase in local taxes and fees is envisaged in Sofia's 2026 Budget. However, the issue of a "household waste" fee remains open. Taxes in Sofia are quite low based on expectations for the city. It may be difficult to find additional funding and at some point such a measure will have to be taken, but in the next year or the year after that, such a direction may be considered. We will have to think about increasing local taxes and fees in the period 2028-2029".
This was stated in an interview with News.bg by the chairman of the Sofia Municipal Council (SOC), Tsvetomir Petrov.
Petrov pointed out that the biggest unfulfilled promise from the state budget to citizens is that transparency in how money is spent on municipal projects and programs has ended. In 2023, a municipal program was set, in which each municipality can submit its sites in a more transparent way and from there go to the MRDPW and receive the money for the respective site. This thing is over, the head of the city parliament emphasized.
According to him, there is a danger that Sofia will have a large budget and no room for projects. "Sofia's budget is a little over 1 billion euros and we have roughly 10 to 20 million euros free, with which we are starting a new project, a new kindergarten and a new boulevard.
In 2025, when voting on the budget in the person of GERB, BSP, ITN, "Spasi Sofia" and "Vazrazhdane", which reshaped the budget and filled many projects for about 80 million leva. All these projects have been started and will be paid off in the coming years," commented Petrov.
He added that the team of Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev will apply for an investment loan for certain large projects - for the repair and reconstruction of boulevards, plus a significant portion of the money for public transport. Part of the money from the investment loan in question will go to the renovation of "Hristo Botev" Blvd., the entire stretch of "Copenhagen" Blvd., the extension of "Rozhen" Blvd., "Maria Luiza" Blvd., and the Eastern Tangent of Sofia, reported Tsvetomir Petrov.
The Chairman of the SOS assured that the city parliament will find a way to do the best in the budget for kindergartens, the renovation of kindergartens, the renovation of schools, sidewalks and streets.
Tsvetomir Petrov added that a large part of the projects that will be included in the budget will be temporary.
During the interview, he also assured that the waste crisis in Sofia has been resolved. Hundreds of millions of euros have been saved from people's pockets, Petrov pointed out.
The head of the SOS reassured that there is no danger of a new garbage crisis brewing in Sofia for any metropolitan area. "Sofia already has the capacity as a city through the Sofia Waste Treatment Enterprise (SPTO) and the "Sofekostroy" company, added Tsvetomir Petrov, who hopes that the capital will increasingly start recycling waste.
He specified that people should know that the more garbage they throw into the gray bins, the more money they pay for the "household waste" fee. If they want to pay less, they should recycle more, Tsvetomir Petrov added.
And he assured that another problem solved by the SOS governing body is that there will be no more companies that twist the arms of the mayor of Sofia for signing new contracts. Currently, the contracts are made in such a way that they will never end on the same date again, added the chairman of the SOS.
Tsvetomir Petrov concluded that at the end of their mandate, the PP-DB will leave Sofia free from the "conquered hoops".
"Mayor Vasil Terziev has done a lot of work, but it is invisible work that is done outside the spotlight. Whether Mr. Terziev will be a candidate for mayor will be his personal decision, but I would certainly support him as a candidate for mayor again, because he showed a different face of governance, showed how work can be done and I believe that if this thing continues, Sofia will be a different city after 1-2 terms," Petrov is sure.