HIGHER TAXI PRICES
All major cab companies in Sofia announced a 25 per cent price increase for taxi services, starting from October 1. Daytime prices are now 0.59 leva and night time prices 0.70 leva, while 0.60 leva is the charge for calling a cab. The price charged for every minute the cab is stationary also increased by 25 per cent. Ten days ago the industry trade unions asked for a drastic price increase for taxi services in Sofia, ranging between 140 and 170 per cent, the Bulgarian Economic Forum reported on October 1.

SOFIA WATER CONCESSION CONTRADICTIONS
The amendments to the concession contract, which Sofia municipality agreed with Sofiyska Voda OOD (SV), were co-ordinated and approved by the State Commission on Energy and Water Regulation (SCEWR) and the World Bank, Bulgarian-language daily Zagrada.bg reported on October 1. Municipality secretary Rossen Jeliazkov said that the concession, which was absolutely unfavourable for Sofia citizens, was one of the main reasons for criticism and it had to be revised.
On October 4, the Defence Ministry and the Ministry of Environment and Water Affairs gave their statements on the case. The municipality needed them to proceed to signing the new agreement.

The negotiations on the SV concession removed from the new clauses the so-called “tariff restriction”, which said that if SCEWR did not approve the tariffs offered by SV, the company had the right to cancel the contract. In this case, the municipality would have had to pay forfeits for missed opportunies, amounting to about 150 million leva. In addition to this money, Sofia would have had to pay the SV loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and that from United Utilities (UU), owner of the major share in SV. Both loans were about 54 million leva each.

In the changed version of the contract, SV kept the right to cancel the contract if it did not like the price. However, the city is no longer obliged to pay compensations but will still have to pay the loans taken out by SV loans, in which case the city would become a majority shareholder in the company-concessionaire.
The other new thing is that only SV will pay for consultations from UU. Up until now the municipality paid about three million leva to UU for consultant activities. The new contract will also free Sofia from guarding the water catchment zones.

However, the contract changes does not make it exceptionally advantageous for Sofia because the concessionaire will continue not to pay concession fees to the municipality. Through special conditions, SV will continue to be able to pass on any additional costs it incurs, because of acquiring new assets or managing existing ones or because of increased costs of supplying and maintaining the quality of the fresh water, through increasing prices. However, according to Boyko Borissov’s team cancelling the concession is not possible because the municipality has to pay  compensation of 150 million leva, as well as the SV loans.