Comment by Emilia Milcheva:
What would happen to the election results in Sofia if the capital's public transport goes on strike, and before the start of the heating season there are problems with the heating due to the huge debt for natural gas? Such risks have already appeared in the capital, governed for almost a year by Mayor Vasil Terziev, elected with the votes of the PP-DB and "Save Sofia". The three electoral districts in Sofia provided 16 parliamentary seats for PP-DB in the June 9 elections, which is 41% of the total 39 they won.
The lack of experience of the new mayoral team, and especially of a majority in the Sofia Municipal Council (SOC), makes it easier for GERB - the political force that has effectively ruled Sofia since 2005, when Boyko Borisov took office as mayor. The result is a blockage of decisions by the new leadership of "Moskovska" 33, the promotion of GERB interests and personnel in the management of municipal companies with the help of the BSP and "There are such people" (ITN), the accumulation of new debts to those accumulated over the years.
And the difficulties of the Sofia municipal companies, whose services are used by the largest number of citizens, began (coincidentally or not) with seizures imposed in September - at the start of the election campaign and the autumn season. Thus, they demanded an unconditional resolution, which makes it difficult for the Sofia Municipality, since it has to look for quick and temporary solutions to long-standing problems. There is no way to bypass them, since they will cause serious crises before the elections and the political dividends will be consumed by GERB.
And here appear the councilors from GERB, BSP, ITN, who are good partners in the SOS, to accuse the mayor and his team of not coping and offering solutions "in pieces". At the same time, they are pushing their own.
The mines in the capital's public transport
On October 9 (Wednesday), the Federation of Transport Workers under the Trade Union "Podkrepa" organized a protest against the mayor of Sofia Vasil Terziev. Their next step is an effective strike, which means stopping public transport in the capital, where over ⅓ of Bulgaria's population actually lives. The reason for the dissatisfaction is the missing 3.3 million leva for bonuses until the end of 2024 for workers in "Stolich Elektrotransport" and "Stolich Autotransport", agreed in an agreement of February 26 between the mayor and the employees of the companies.
Mayor Terziev promised that the bonus system would be proposed with the update of the 2024 budget, but according to the union, he will transfer them to next year in order to avoid an increase in the basic salary. At its last meeting, the SOS increased the loan that Sofia Municipality will grant to public transport from 6 million to 15 million leva, but the money will not be enough. Debts have been inherited, most of which are due to the unfulfilled obligations of the state, which has not paid 28 million leva to Sofia Municipality. The funds have been accumulated due to the issuance of preferential cards for public transport, especially for children under 12 years of age. The problem also affects other municipalities, but is most acute for the capital.
A seizure for 1.2 million leva due to wasteful renovation of a dormitory, started under the GERB government and Mayor Yordanka Fandakova and still unfinished, brought to light how Sofia residents' money was wasted. "Sega" wrote about the scandalous renovation, the total cost of which is 3 million leva, back in 2020, but the management of "Stolichne Autotrans" did not bear responsibility. Moreover - GERB, almost all of the BSP together with ITN sabotaged the proposal of Vasil Terziev and PP-DB-SS that the new heads of key municipal companies - "Metropolitan", Center for Urban Mobility, the Sofia Auto and Electric Transport, "Toplofikatsiya Sofia" and "Sofinvest", be selected through competitions. Instead, they imposed temporary boards, the result of backstage agreements, without the management of the Sofia Municipality being aware of who these 26 people were on them.
"No one can afford to bankrupt "Toplofikatsiya"
When in 2022 the then chairman of the SOS, today a GERB MP Georgi Georgiev said on BNT that no one could afford to bankrupt the Sofia District Heating Company, there were no surprises. Of course, who will deprive "Bulgargaz" of its largest client, which consumes ⅓ of the annual quantities of natural gas purchased by Bulgaria. Thus, a municipal company has been elevated to a pillar of energy security and is allowed to uncontrollably accumulate debts for blue fuel, exceeding 1.6 billion leva to "Bulgargaz" and the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH). For comparison, Sofia's budget for 2024 is 2.576 billion leva.
One day after the capital's district heating company announced that it was ready for the new heating season, "Bulgargaz" imposed a seizure in order to collect part of the accumulated 800 million leva debts. Assurances immediately followed that there would be no problems with the supply of heating and hot water on the eve of the heating season. No one believes that there will be.
However, the actions of "Bulgargaz" became an occasion for municipal councilors to publicly demonstrate concerns about the upcoming heating season, although they are aware that no one will stop the heating of ministries, agencies, universities, residential buildings. And the suggestions are that the PP-DB mayor is not coping. Resolving the problem is another cog in the wheels of the new administration of the capital, since any strategy could not pass without the consent of the SOS. And SOS means the majority of GERB, BSP and ITN, which tie the hands of the mayor elected with the votes of PP-DB and "Save Sofia".
A solution will be sought with the help of the state, announced Mayor Vasil Terziev. But five months ago, the official authorities canceled the decision of the government of Nikolay Denkov to buy back the debts of "Toplofikatsiya-Sofia" for 1.6 billion leva, arguing that it would be state aid. It is unlikely that another solution will be found, but the lack of one will add fuel to the campaign that GERB is waging against the capital's administration, even accusing it of its own well-forgotten sins.
Pouring another million into taxpayers' pockets means "swallowing", without seeking responsibility, all the waste and theft in the company, outsourced repairs to certain companies, controversial contracts for electricity sales through the exchange to certain traders and those with unfavorable clauses with emissions traders. All this during the nearly two decades of GERB's management of the Sofia Municipality, along with some 80 million leva for the investment program of "Toplofikatsiya-Sofia", which sank into CorpBank.
The financial condition of the Sofia heating company is such that there will be no candidates for a public-private partnership with this pile of debts. There is no publicity whatsoever about the unpaid heating debts accumulated by institutions and educational institutions and how the collection is going. But instead of the thefts and opacity over all these years, municipal councilors are worried about the heat - which no one has any intention of stopping. The election campaign is in full swing.