Over the past two years, Souhodol residents heard Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov promise bombastic investments and acquisitions in return for their agreement to dump Sofia's refuse in the local landfill, mediapool.bg said.

Borissov's first offer was worth 14 million leva. Later it was increased to 27 million leva, the same amount that Sofia used to pay for baling its refuse each year. On February 10, the final call was set at 35 million leva to be invested in Souhodol over the next two years, 13.5 million of those would be used in 2008.

Borissov personally went to Souhodol, defiant of his own promise to never again set foot in the area after the resistance of the local population to the use of the landfill.

Sofia municipality managed to make everyone believe that special attention was paid to Souhodol. However, Borissov politics regarding Souhodol were reminiscent of propaganda tricks other regimes once used, mediapool.bg commented.

The 13.5 million leva which Sofia municipality granted for the prosperity of Souhodol included amount needed for the functioning of the landfill itself. Of the 13.5 million, 8.7 million leva will be used for these expenses. This could by no means be described as investing in Souhodol's future, mediapool.bg said.

On top of that, the Sofia budget did not specify where the remaining 4.8 mllion leva that was promised to Souhodol, would come from. Under to the Sofia budget for 2008, the residential area of Souhodol together with the villages of Gorni Bogrov, Dolni Bogrov and Yana will receive a total of 3.2 million leva for the construction of social and engineering infrastructure. This means the money will be used to finance the projects not of one, but of all four settlements.

Sofia budget also envisages the launch of a 3-year project for the correction of Souhodolska river. In 2008 1.5 million leva will be granted under this project. The last place where the name of Souhodol is mentioned in the Sofia budget is under the “repairs of healthcare service” column with 250 000 leva being granted to this aim. Souhodol's 72nd primary school is not included in the list of schools to be repaired.

Souhodol citizens, however, had solid grounds to doubt they would even receive the money earmarked for them in the budget, mediapool.bg said. The 2007 Sofia municipal budget had earmarked 2.003 million leva for the construction of social and engineering infrastructure in Gorni Bogrov, Dolni Bogrov, Yana and Souhodol. Yet accounts showed that only 10 per cent, or a total of 203 000 leva have been used for the four settlements.