I informed the Mayor of Sofia Municipality of my desire to leave the post of Deputy Mayor for Finance and Healthcare. I have personally informed the Mayor of Sofia about my reasons. I will remain in office until the case related to the change of the municipality's servicing bank is resolved. I am leaving a well-functioning department and a team of proven professionals and experts, who I believe will continue to do their best for the development of the municipality. This was written on "Facebook" by Ivan Vassilev.
"Together with my colleagues, in the past months, while I have been leading the department, we have followed strict financial discipline and a policy of transparency and accountability for every lev of Sofia residents. The larger tasks that I have been working on in recent weeks and on which the work is about to be completed – I hope successfully – are: We have created an urgent action plan for changing the servicing bank, after we received a written notice from the Municipal Bank for the unilateral termination of our contractual relations. It is about to be established, by order of the mayor, commissions for developing criteria (as in the direction we have developed a project to be considered) and subsequently for selecting a new servicing bank. If the plan is implemented, I am sure that there will be no difficulties in the work of the municipality.
An action plan has been developed and an investment loan prepared for the purchase of new rolling stock in the “Transport“ sector. The directors of the “Finance“, “Economy and Commercial Activity“ and “Transport“ directorates are included in the process and are preparing the necessary documents for public presentation and discussion of the investment intention. The deadline I have set is for the end of August to have an investment intention of Sofia Municipality developed and ready for public presentation, which, after the public discussion process, should also be considered by the Sofia Municipal Council.
A process for public-private partnerships is in the final stage of development, in order to stimulate private initiative for solving public problems of Sofia Municipality, protecting the public interest and property. Colleagues from the Directorates of “Municipal Property“ and “Public Procurement and Concessions“, who are included in the working group established by a decision of the Sofia Municipal Council, will familiarize the chairman of the working group, as well as all other members, in order to finalize and approve a process and methodology for public-private partnerships. I believe that this initiative will be a good signal and sign to business and will enable some of the problems we face in the city to be solved thanks to the private initiative in partnership with the municipality.
A three-step process has been developed that provides an opportunity for businesses with offices in the Sofia Municipality to contribute to the improvement of the public environment through donations to improve conditions in gardens or plant trees. These are just examples, but the opportunities for business to support the municipality through donations are numerous.
A package of documents has been compiled, including sample declarations and contracts, in order to standardize the process and facilitate business in its partnership with the municipality. The preparation of the Sofia Municipality budget for 2026 is underway, and letters have been sent to all budget spending units to provide their medium-term budget forecast. The report on the implementation of the Sofia Municipality budget for 2024 is being prepared, which should be completed and presented in September. I thank the team of the “Finance and Healthcare” department for the trust and for moving forward together even in the most difficult moments. Sofia, it has always been a privilege for me to serve you! I continue - with my deeds, with my energy and experience and with every action I take - to work for the future of our city and Bulgaria, to make them a better place to live, honest business and environment-changing investments."