In 2017, Sofia to Develop as Green Innovative City as Before

Sofia, January 26 (BTA) - Presenting the capital's draft budget for 2017, Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova said there was more to it than revenues and expenditures. "It is a choice of financial policy with very clear objectives for development and change, which will bring about the vision we have promised to the
residents - to develop Sofia as a green, innovative city," the Mayor said.

The Sofia Municipal Council adopted the budget by a vote of  45-10, with two abstentions. The councillors of GERB and the Patriots for Sofia and part of the Reformist Bloc voted in favour. All seven councillors of the BSP-Left Bulgaria, two of the Serdica Coalition and one Reformist Bloc member voted against. One Reformist Bloc member and one councillor from Group 5 abstained.

Fandakova said that the budget amounts to 1,328 million leva, over 60 million leva more than in 2016. At 435 million leva thecapital expenditure programme has increased by 35 million leva from 2016. Financing under operational programmes stands at  275 million leva, up from 195 million leva last year. Early into the new programming period 2014-2020, the City Hall justified a more than double increase in investments from the
previous period.

The local taxes and the main charges remain the same. Revenues from the tax on property purchases are projected to increase by 3 million leva, and property market data suggest that this is feasible.

Metro and kindergarten construction and the renovation of  schools, tram lines, boulevards and streets will continue. More money will be invested in the places where people live - in streets, municipal hospitals, sports and culture. People with disabilities will benefit from a proposed increase in the financing of the Assistant for Independent Life Programme.

The Sofia Muncipal Council also adopted the business plan of the utility. It plans to invest nearly 76 million leva, of which 68.5 million leva will be in own finding and a little over 7 million leva will be tapped under the Kozloduy Fund. In 2017, one of the most important investment projects of the company will be an RDF-fired co-generation plant, which is estimated at 285 million leva. Sixty-eight per cent of the funding will come from the Operational Programme Environment. The company also plans to repair 21 km of piping.

Georgi Belovski, head of the utility, said that the company employs 2,340 and the average salary is below 1,000 leva.

The Sofia Municipal Council also discussed the business plan of the Sofia heating utility for 2017. Ombudsman Maya Manolova criticized the plan and the performance of the company.Manolova said that the business plan wasn't published properly so that the members of the public may get information about the
condition of the company. The plan fails to offer an in depth analysis of the causes that resulted in losses to the amount of  40 million leva in 2016. Moreover, the plan projects 35 million leva in losses in 2017. Meanwhile the company set aside 2.5 million leva in 2016 to increase wages and has allocated another
4 million leva in 2017 to that purpose. With regard to the escalating losses, expenditures for external services continue to increase. The company spent nearly 3 million leva on legal costs, said the Ombudsman.

She noted the "complex scheme" between the utility customers and the heat accounting companies, saying that costs outweighed revenues from this activity. The Ombudsman said it is not clear how the investment programme of the company is implemented. She noted that in 2016 a mere 8 km of heat transmission network were repaired of a total of nearly 1,000 km. This is less than 10 per cent, way below plans for 2016. This trend will persist in 2017, said Manolova. She raised objections to the way the company is managed.