Sofia municipality will not pay more than 30 000 leva, or 10 per cent of the amount due, to Novera, the company in charge of clearing the snow in the city. The reason was the delays by the firm, owned by EQUEST investment fund, in carrying out its duties.

Sofia municipal spokesperson Tsvetanka Krusteva told The Sofia Echo the city had seven million leva to pay for clearing snow this winter season. It had to distribute the money over the months from January to March, when the last snowfalls are expected. This amount is less than half the total allocated in previous years.

Last year the municipality had 15 million leva to deal with the snow. The decreased budget is the reason why this season the city has ordered only the main routes for public transport and those in the centre of the city to be cleared.

Krusteva said it was the duty of the users, the inhabitant of buildings and the owners of shops and other commercial buildings to clear the snow from the pavements.
The snow in the parks is cleared by the state-run company Parks. According to Krusteva, it had done it job well so far.

The underpasses in the city are managed by the security company Egida, who is also responsible for clearing them of snow. The municipality does not have to pay Egida extra money for doing this as it is already part of its contract.