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.
Under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, Spain has said it will send two aircraft, each with a capacity of around 6 tonnes, to help fight the wildfires in Bulgaria. It is likely that the flying machines will be able to join the extinguishing efforts as..
Bulgaria is actively working with Greece and Romania to secure EU funding for infrastructure projects to be used for both military and civilian purposes. This is what Bulgaria's Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov explained to the MPs in Parliament..
Sofia Airport has not been affected by the global IT outage , which has hampered companies from all over the world, the press centre of Sofia Airport told BTA. There might be cancelled or delayed flights because of other affected airports or..
The efforts to contain the wildfires in the border municipality of Bolyarovo continue. The partial state of emergency continues to be in place in 7..
On Sunday a cold front will sweep across the country from West to East. There will be clouds and, in the afternoon, brief showers, thunderstorms and..
“For us this election has to be the last for the coming years. No more compromises with the people, with society or with the political system should..
Mostly Cloudy
sunshine, cloud, rain and thunder
Partly cloudy, chance of rain