"I see no reason to resign - a recording is coming out that no one knows where it came from, not very pleasant things are being heard that contradict what I and the PP are fighting for. Measures are being taken immediately to part ways with the deputy mayor, to appoint inspections in both municipalities, we are tightening control over the inspection of public procurement and processes". This was stated in "The Day Begins with Georgi Lyubenov" on BNT by Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev.
According to him, the current situation is no different from what has been happening for years, the only difference is the institutions, which "can work very quickly, but selectively". The mayor said that he cannot know absolutely everything that happened in the units and district administrations, but he has a relationship with how the systems work and constantly tightens control.
"I know what Barbutov did in terms of all the projects that were moving through his unit - which are the sites, what is being done on them. I have driven the entire unit not to miss deadlines, but you understand that my control is reduced to having systems that do not allow public resources to be diverted".
According to him, related parties and public procurements are currently being checked and at first glance there is nothing wrong. If something has deviated, the institutions must prove it, the mayor said. Vasil Terziev also commented on the words of his former coalition partner Boris Bonev:
"I don't think that Mr. Bonev can boast of complete knowledge of what is happening under each of his mayors and municipal councilors in order to speak out so boldly. I work with goals and a system that I constantly strive to build on".
Vasil Terziev cannot guarantee whether money was diverted to the coffers of "We Continue the Change", but he can say whether public procurements were announced at higher prices than market prices and whether candidates were unfairly eliminated - the inspection will be completed in a few weeks.
"Every mayor, not only from the Change, should be inspected in the same way. I fight for equal treatment and work equally with every mayor from every political party. Every single problem I have seen, I have addressed and I believe that which party you belong to has no bearing on whether the institutions work".
The collection of bids for garbage collection companies has been extended by another two weeks and it is expected that all of them will be reviewed by the end of July. Terziev stated that the fight against illegal dumps continues and criticized the inaction of state institutions, specifically the Ministry of Environment.
"There is no way for the municipality to solve some things on its own without support from the institutions. It hurts me that not only do we not meet support, but sometimes open sabotage of our attempts to do something useful".