A HUNDRED days into his term as mayor of Sofia, the period that Boiko Borissov had set to effectively implement a number of measures, he found himself amid another growing Sofia refuse crisis.

However, Borissov said that he would not lose his grip on the municipal administration and would continue to successfully deal with other sensitive issues in the capital city, including corruption, infrastructure repairs, stray dogs, cleanliness, and unlawful building developments.

On February 22, Pernik citizens filed a petition against the baling of refuse at the Republic mine, which is close to the largest residential area of Pernik, home to 35 000 people. The other site identified for the baling of waste was Cukurovo mine. On February 22, the Supreme Administrative Court reviewed a decision to turn the two mines into a baling ground for Sofia refuse. Sofia Municipality’s request to consider the two mines as “facilities of national importance” was backed by the Environment and Water Ministry on February 20. The option was considered as a way to quickly turn them into baling grounds without having to go through environmental assessments, which would take at least eight months.

On February 21 and 22, a European Commission technical team visited Bulgaria to acquaint themselves with the problems of the city’s waste disposal. They advised Borissov to hold daily talks with the people who live around the grounds where a refuse processing and recycling plant is to be constructed, and also proposed that the Sofia municipality offers financial support to the settlements where the Sofia refuse will be packaged.

The main purpose of the team’s visit was to discuss possibilities to help Sofia Municipality prepare a refuse processing plant project with which to apply for EU funding.

In an interview with Bulgarian National on February 20, Borissov said that “(Sofia Municipality had) failed to put to use 400 million euro funding for a new refuse processing plant in Bulgaria. Bulgaria has let numerous chances (for EU funding) slip through her hands, like improving roads and infrastructure and building a garbage-processing and re-cycling plant,” Borissov said.

The refuse report, which the EC will send to Bulgaria later, will say that the refuse problem is a national one, that it pollutes the environment and that Bulgaria will not enter the EU this way, Borissov said.

By the beginning of March, Borissov will also prepare a report on the public cleansing concession and say whether the municipality will terminate its contracts with Sofia waste removal concession holders, the Wolf and Chistota companies, Bulgarian media reported. If the concessionaires do not agree with the proposed amendments, the contracts will be terminated, Borissov said.

The municipality has financial reserves that will be used for street reconstruction, Borissov said, amid criticisms that the Sofia Municipality budget did not pass on a first reading because it lacked clear priorities. He did not reveal where the money will come from.

Borissov said that he had introduced paid parking for MPs and required the Cabinet office to pay refuse fees.

This year’s state budget will provide only 11 million leva for street reconstruction. Borissov hopes to receive at least a further 30 million leva.