site.btaSofia Waste Crisis: Latest Decisions

Sofia Municipality is preparing for emergency-mode waste collection and is terminating the procurement procedure for Zone 3, which includes the boroughs of Izgrev, Slatina and Poduyane, the municipal press office said on Wednesday. It added that the Municipality is signing a contract with the Turkish company Norm Sanayi for Zone 4 (Ilinden, Nadezhda and Serdika) and is assigning Zone 6 (Lyulin and Krasno Selo) to the municipal company Sofecostroy.

The decision concerns three out of seven announced positions, the press office explained. The report of the internal selection commission was sent to the Public Procurement Agency on Tuesday evening.

Seven contracts for waste collection and street cleaning in 20 of Sofia's 24 boroughs expire this year.

On October 4, Sofia Municipality introduced a temporary scheme for waste collection in Lyulin and Krasno Selo after the contract for this zone expired before a new agreement could be signed. Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev refused to sign a contract with the only remaining candidate, citing the need to protect the residents of the capital from the consequences of an unjustifiably high price proposed by the bidder, which was several times higher than the annual budget for the activity.

Following the formal termination of the public procurement procedure, which is currently under way, Sofia Municipality will assign Sofecostroy to take over all waste collection operations in Lyulin and Krasno Selo under a five-year contract, with the price to be determined through negotiations.