The transport strike in Sofia raises many questions about the budget of Sofia and who can count on what money. What have we been through… Prof. Vili Lilkov, municipal councilor from “Blue Bulgaria“, speaks to FACTI.
- Prof. Lilkov, Sofia survived 6 days without public transport. How do you view what happened?
- First of all, let's thank the metro employees, because they worked harder and took on a greater workload than usual. And regarding the blockade, I will say that the same results could have been achieved without this brutal pressure on the lives of Sofia residents.
- Did the actions of the city transport employees in the capital turn out to be union or political, because we saw how they ended?
- If I had to determine the actions of the main players in the blockade, I would say the following - arbitrariness, initiated by a group of union leaders who enjoyed hidden political support, which became visible on the sixth day!
- Are these 300 leva increase that the transport workers received deserved?
- People probably deserve a bigger increase. In city transport, there are units where they work with a high degree of responsibility, in poor working conditions, for many of them the working day starts at 4-5 am and ends after midnight. We are indebted to these people. Another issue is that public transport is a complex system that needs both money for salaries and investments, but in return for reforms. It turned out that the debate on public transport was held only on the "point" of salaries. The issue of investments, reforms, and the granting of part of the lines in the road transport to private operators who would enter with their own capital, management and responsibility and take part of the financial burden off the municipality did not take place. Again, we postponed the serious issue until the next crisis situation, when the good "tsar" and the lobbyists from the economic majority in the Sofia Municipal Council (SOC) will appear again, who will solve the problem. How? Well, again with common money and at the expense of the common interest. This policy is leftist, easy and wrong!
- By order of the leader of GERB Boyko Borisov, 15 million leva were found from the state budget. And where will they come from next year? Again from the state or... - At the extraordinary joint meeting on Monday of the Standing Committees on Transport, Finance and Budget and Economy, it was clarified that if the request for a 300 leva increase for each worker in the transport system is accepted, there will be a budget shortfall of 70 million leva. It will be partially covered by the 15 million leva from the state and another 20 million leva that the municipality will probably receive from the state for metro security. In fact, there will be a shortfall of 35 million leva, which "will be found" only if sites worth 35 million leva are dropped from the municipality's investment program. This is the situation - instead of 35 million leva for repairs or building streets, sidewalks, parks, sports and playgrounds, etc., they will go to salaries. This proposal will be put up for discussion together with the budget on May 29. That's why we suggested that the Center for Urban Mobility develop other payment options. We'll see! Ultimately, the SOS will decide what, how and to whom it will be given. Let me clarify - there is no political majority in the municipal council, but a "motley" group of 31 councilors out of 61, assembled by puppeteers outside the municipality, which is driven by orders from outside. This group is without its own will and political physiognomy, very strident - a tong for fulfilling economic orders. That's it! That's why the serious conversation about the prospects of transport, about a long-term investment program, about reforms in transport companies, about a targeted loan for investments in transport infrastructure and rolling stock, about a parking reform in order to establish better order and profit from parking, and to direct the money for new vehicles, for parking lots and for better working conditions in the system, etc., will not take place soon. And it is urgent!
- You are a municipal councilor. Why did the Municipal Council passively watch the strike and not come up with any proposals, decisions, nothing was heard from you… How do you view the behavior of Mayor Terziev. Did he cope?
- Mayor Terziev made a mistake by not involving the municipal council, the boards of directors of the public transport companies (rather, they were passive accomplices of the unions) and the state in the conversation with the unions. In his place, I would invite everyone to the negotiating table and would propose a program until the end of the mandate on all transport problems with an invitation to become guarantors for its implementation. Do you want money? Please - support the program and everyone will get theirs! We, as councilors, were not invited by either the unions or the mayor for talks. On the other hand, three municipal councilors from GERB and BSP, "played" together with the unions in the pressure against the municipality and attracted to their side the political groups of GERB and BSP in the SOS, who supported the demands that everyone receive 300 leva to their salary, and even more for next year. However, looking at the reactions of the people in Sofia, I think most of them understood the situation the mayor was put in.
- Was there an attack on Mayor Terziev behind all this, or did things in Sofia's transport simply escalate?
- Both! The organizers' solitaire turned out to be successful, because the mayor currently has no political majority behind him, and he is doing nothing to consolidate councilors around him and lead them.
- Now it was about public transport, and a strike is coming by the companies that collect garbage in the capital. Who will they be then?
- There should be no problems with the cleaning companies, because for 2025 we adopted a record plan-account for cleanliness. Another issue is that Mayor Terziev inherits a failed waste processing system, I mean the Garbage Plant, which is deprived of its "third stage" (burning of RDF fuel in the "Heating Plant" in order to make heating cheaper). That is why we have to transport the RDF fuel produced at the plant with heavy trucks to the cement plants. I calculated that only by the end of 2023, the trucks with RDF will have "traveled" to the cement plants "kilometers", which is equivalent to 70 trips around the globe (for tens of millions of leva) and we have paid millions more for the incineration. And that is why I am disgusted when I see how certain municipal councilors "play" with the topic of the plant, given that it is precisely for this, I emphasize, failed system that the previous government is responsible. Not to mention the hundreds of illegal landfills that the mayor inherits and is now accused of almost allowing them. As you can see, a complicated situation!
- Does the Sofia budget have buffers with which to compensate for new demands?
- I say this quite responsibly - there is not a single municipal activity, municipal system or municipal service that is not underfunded and does not need additional financial resources. The budget for 2025 of about 2.84 billion leva is strictly calculated and is very insufficient for serious city projects. The budget is neither bold nor reformist. If we have to talk about buffers, I would say that we need not buffers in the usual sense, but new policies and reforms – attracting private capital in communal activities, partnership with the state for the implementation of serious projects, getting rid of poorly performing commercial companies, a new policy regarding fees, rents and service prices, parking reform. We - from “Blue Bulgaria“, have clearly stated our readiness for reforms and work, a desire for unpopular and bolder solutions and are looking for allies. Back in December 2023, we handed over to the mayor our 106 proposals for policies, reforms and specific projects and are ready to work on them and support everything useful for the city and the people. But due to a lack of political will for bold actions, the Sofia Municipality continues to waste time and energy.
- What will it be like next year?
- If the economic majority continues to rule – more of the same!