Vanya Grigorova in front of FACTS: The state owes BGN 17 million for the security of the metro (VIDEO)

We had a meeting in the Committee for Transport and Road Safety in the Capital Municipality a few days ago. There is indeed a problem in the work of the Metropolitan Municipal Council and commercial companies in the municipality, and this is a consequence of the instability of the governments in Bulgaria. When we adopted the economic framework of transport, we set aside 17 million BGN from the state budget to cover the costs of guarding the metro, because it is an object of national security. Mayor Terziev said that he had a promise from Asen Vasilev, while he was finance minister, that these funds would go to the account of the Metropolitan Municipality. Then they should go to the Center for Urban Mobility and already be used to finance and operate urban transport. To date, these funds have not been received by the municipality. This is what he announced to Lili Marinkova in the "FACTS" studio. and the show “Conversation“ Vanya Grigorova, municipal councilor in Sofia municipality.

“One minimal correction should be made in the law, which would guarantee that in the future the metro will be guarded by the Ministry of the Interior, but without owing them funds. This is how an extremely unstable environment is created, in which parties prepare for election campaigns, talk complete nonsense and lobby for legislative changes. But no attention is paid to changes that are necessary for the functioning of public transport, she added.

“To complete the picture. With the adoption of the budget for 2024, the parliament increased the group of people who can use preferential cards and tickets for public transport. Thus, children up to the age of 14 already enjoy preferences, and the scope of disabled people has expanded. So far, this is BGN 20 million, which the City Transport has accumulated as tickets sold, but the money is not repaid from the state budget. The Parliament imputes these obligations to the City Transport - not only in Sofia, and these funds are not paid by the Ministry of Finance, and this leads to heavy indebtedness of the city transport, Grigorova added.

See more from the conversation in the VIDEO.