site.btaSofia Heating Company Plans Pay Rises Despite BGN 673 Mln Financial Loss in Five Years

As central heating is switched on in the Bulgarian capital on Tuesday, the local heating utility company, Toplofikatsiya Sofia, continues to operate on the brink of technical insolvency, without any measures in place for financial stabilization, said Simeon Stavrev, municipal councillor from Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria, as quoted in a Municipal Council press release on Tuesday. Stavrev presented data showing that the company’s financial performance is set to deteriorate further and its debts to continue growing.

“In the past five years, Toplofikatsiya Sofia has accumulated losses of BGN 673 million, yet it still plans automatic pay rises of 10% for over 2,000 employees. The total personnel costs for 2025 will exceed BGN 136 million, even though the company’s total revenues are likely to fall by 10%. This is not a recovery strategy — it’s a policy of delay and self-deception,” he said.

According to Stavrev, Toplofikatsiya Sofia’s liabilities are expected to reach BGN 2.7 billion, 20% more than the previous year, with debts to natural gas supplier Bulgargaz alone rising by as much as 45%.

Stavrev argued: “The network is outdated, transmission losses remain high, and planned investments in modernization and new capacity seem ever more distant. Meanwhile, Sofia residents are paying more and more for a service that isn’t becoming any more reliable. Toplofikatsiya Sofia simply cannot go on like this, and the Municipal Council must take a clear position — either a full-scale reform with a new management model, or an honest decision about the company’s future. Any other course will mean further losses for the city and its citizens.”