A projected budget deficit of 80 million leva faces Sofia Municipality this year, Mayor Stefan Sofianski said.
In addition, the budget for salaries of municipal officials will run out in September which will lead to staff cutbacks.
Speaking last Thursday, Sofianski predicted a hard fiscal year for the capital city and said that the lack of sufficient funds was his most painful problem.
Assistance is expected from the companies Overgaz and Sofiiska Voda, which will invest 20 million and 30 million leva respectively in the gasification and the water supply network of the capital. The mayor said another 30 million leva would have to be raised.
This could be achieved by signing a loan agreement with the World Bank for Sofia’s heating utility, and finding investors to carry out projects on vacant plots in the city, he said.
“We will manage to maintain a good employment level and turnover of investment funds in this way only,” Sofianski said.
The mayor said that the municipality had reduced its 2002 investment programme from 59 million leva to 23 million leva.
“In previous years, we used to invest around 120 million,” Sofianski said.
One of the major investors in Sofia’s infrastructure this year will be the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), which will lend $104 million for the construction of Sofia underground.
The agreement between the bank and Sofia Municipality should be signed in early February. The funds will be used to construct the second section of the underground, 2km long, from Sveta Nedelya Square to the tunnel under Dragan Tsankov Blvd.
The loan will cover two stations, numbers 8 and 9. Station 8 is at the Sveti Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, and station 9 is at the Bulgarian National Radio.
He said last year the municipality contributed more than 100 million leva to the national budget. The municipality gets revenue from taxes, fees and other receivables, which amounted to 1.6 billion leva in 2001, or 19 per cent up from 2000.
Sofianski called for reducing the contribution of the capital city to the public purse because he saw this as the most feasible way for preventing major cutbacks in the municipal administration.
Last Wednesday, representatives of the National Association of Municipalities in Bulgaria (NAMB) said that municipalities across the country would be forced to cut 10 per cent of the staff because the salary budget allowances would run out in September.
Sofianski suggested that reducing Sofia’s contribution to the national budget could compensate for this difference. He also said that the subsidised municipalities should contribute more.
In addition, the budget for salaries of municipal officials will run out in September which will lead to staff cutbacks.
Speaking last Thursday, Sofianski predicted a hard fiscal year for the capital city and said that the lack of sufficient funds was his most painful problem.
Assistance is expected from the companies Overgaz and Sofiiska Voda, which will invest 20 million and 30 million leva respectively in the gasification and the water supply network of the capital. The mayor said another 30 million leva would have to be raised.
This could be achieved by signing a loan agreement with the World Bank for Sofia’s heating utility, and finding investors to carry out projects on vacant plots in the city, he said.
“We will manage to maintain a good employment level and turnover of investment funds in this way only,” Sofianski said.
The mayor said that the municipality had reduced its 2002 investment programme from 59 million leva to 23 million leva.
“In previous years, we used to invest around 120 million,” Sofianski said.
One of the major investors in Sofia’s infrastructure this year will be the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), which will lend $104 million for the construction of Sofia underground.
The agreement between the bank and Sofia Municipality should be signed in early February. The funds will be used to construct the second section of the underground, 2km long, from Sveta Nedelya Square to the tunnel under Dragan Tsankov Blvd.
The loan will cover two stations, numbers 8 and 9. Station 8 is at the Sveti Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, and station 9 is at the Bulgarian National Radio.
He said last year the municipality contributed more than 100 million leva to the national budget. The municipality gets revenue from taxes, fees and other receivables, which amounted to 1.6 billion leva in 2001, or 19 per cent up from 2000.
Sofianski called for reducing the contribution of the capital city to the public purse because he saw this as the most feasible way for preventing major cutbacks in the municipal administration.
Last Wednesday, representatives of the National Association of Municipalities in Bulgaria (NAMB) said that municipalities across the country would be forced to cut 10 per cent of the staff because the salary budget allowances would run out in September.
Sofianski suggested that reducing Sofia’s contribution to the national budget could compensate for this difference. He also said that the subsidised municipalities should contribute more.
