Sofia Municipality is preparing to buy street lights at prices which are between 3 and 77 times higher than the market price, Municipal Councilor Boris Bonev said for bTV.
An investigation carried out by Save Sofia non-governmental organization has found large discrepancies between the prices of the two companies that won a tender worth EUR 37.3 million. "In the northern part of Sofia, a street lamp will cost EUR 2,943, whereas in the southern part of the city the same lamp will cost EUR 812", said Boris Bonev. "Our team made an experiment - we chose five items from the public procurement and paid a total of EUR 71.45, while Sofia Municipality pays EUR 465.42 for them", the municipal councilor further said.
Bulgaria’s Premier Kiril Petkov announced on Facebook that he would order an inspection of the public procurement. “When a street lamp on one side of the street costs EUR 812 and the same street lamp on the other side of the street costs EUR 2,943, then we really need an Anticorruption Commission with investigative function as soon as possible”, Premier Petkov further wrote.
Meanwhile, it became clear that by order of Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova, internal auditors at Sofia Municipality will examine the procedures for selecting contractors for repair and construction of street lighting.
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