Plovdiv city council will sign an agreement to put Sofia’s 100 000 tons of baled waste on the landfill near the village of Tsalapitsa only after the Government makes a formal commitment to grant at least 25 million leva to Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second largest municipality.

If approved, the funding will bankroll infrastructure projects that are yet to be agreed with the Ministry of Finance.

This decision was taken by Plovdiv city councillors who on September 17 2009 accepted in principle a proposal by mayor Slavcho Atanasov to help Sofia reduce its mountain of packaged trash.

The proposed price of 25 leva a ton of stored waste sparked a heated exchange between Atanasov and the GERB group in the city council, whose municipal leader Dani Kanazireva branded it as unlawful, saying it is much higher than the 14 leva paid by other municipalities dumping their refuse near Tsalapitsa. GERB is the party headed by Prime Minister Boiko Borissov, a former mayor of Sofia.

GERB’s councillors accused the mayor of lobbyism, claiming the companies that will be awarded the government-funded infrastructure projects have already been picked.

"Are you Sofia’s lawyers? We’ve had negotiations with Sofia and they have agreed on 25 leva a ton. This is the price paid for Sofia’s refuse everywhere, take me to the prosecution if you don’t trust me," Atanasov said.

But councillors did not fix a price, agreeing to put together a group that will negotiate with Sofia municipality about the price and the duration of the contract.

Source: Dnevnik.bg