site.btaSofia Mayor Proposes Analysis of City's Transport Companies Administration Costs, Considers Possible Merger

Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev proposed to make a comprehensive analysis of all companies in the capital transport in a Nova Television interview on Friday morning. "The aim is to see if there are bloated administration costs, if there can be one operator and not four companies," he explained.

Terziev recalled that there will be a meeting with the surface transport protesters on Monday. "Today we are expecting the calculations they will make. The BGN 180 increase we proposed on Thursday evening means a BGN 55 million hole in transport. It will become BGN 66 million if the request for a BGN 300 increase is granted," the Mayor said. 

He clarified that there is no way to take money out of the Municipality's capital programme to be given for salaries, because it concerns projects on which work has already started.

"It is not about stubbornness, but when there is no money - there is no money. And this is not just my problem, I am not a magician," Terziev said. He added that he and his team will submit to the Municipality Council a proposal for a transport framework that can be implemented, but clarified that the final decision is up to the Council.

Terziev recalled that the gross salary of a driver in the metro is BGN 4,600, and this amount does not include overtime. Bonuses in transport are between BGN 250 and 500, with an average of 291.