site.btaOver 30 Complaints Filed Over Sofia Waste Collection Crisis

Outgoing Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadjov said here Friday that mayors are responsible for the management of household waste and for preventing risks to public health. Karadjov was responding to a question from an MP from the MRF-New Beginning parliamentary group regarding the assessment of public health risks in Sofia Municipality in connection with the waste collection crisis.

Karadjov noted that under the Waste Management Act, mayors are responsible for organizing waste collection and removal within their respective municipalities, including Sofia, to prevent a deterioration of the hygienic and epidemiological situation.

He said that more than 30 complaints from citizens had been submitted to the Sofia Regional Health Inspectorate in connection with the household waste accumulation crisis in the capital, which began as early as October. Targeted inspections were carried out for each signal within the inspectorate’s competence.

Karadjov added that the Sofia Regional Health Inspectorate had sent several official letters to the Mayor of Sofia Municipality regarding different areas of the city, warning that even short-term disruptions in waste collection and removal lead to waste accumulation and pose a risk to public health.

All complaints were promptly forwarded to Sofia Municipality, the Sofia Inspectorate and district mayors for concrete action, and four mandatory prescriptions were issued to the municipality as a result of the control activities.

On January 14, an administrative violation report was also drawn up against the Mayor of Sofia Municipality for failure to comply with a prescription related to regular waste collection and removal in the Lyulin district, Karadjov said.

Inspections were carried out in October, November, December and January, with the deadline for another prescription expiring on January 20. After that, new targeted health control will be conducted in a number of Sofia districts. In the event of non-compliance, new administrative violation reports will be issued against the mayor, including with regard to disinsection and deratization activities related to waste management.

Sofia’s waste-collection crisis has unfolded in waves since early October 2025, when street-cleaning contracts covering Lyulin and Krasno Selo expired and the municipality switched to temporary crisis arrangements in Lyulin and Krasno Selo while replacement procurement ran into delays and pricing disputes. The situation widened from December 1, 2025, when temporary waste-collection measures were introduced in Izgrev, Poduyane and Slatina after their contractor’s agreement lapsed and the new tender was held up by an appeal to the Commission for Protection of Competition. City Hall has since sought to stabilize services by shifting some affected areas to the municipal company Sofekostroy under a longer-term arrangement from January 1, 2026, as residents filed thousands of reports about missed collections and overflowing containers.