Consumer Protection Commission (KZP) head Maya Manolova has asked the head of Sofia's district heating company, Toplofikatsia Sofia, to give an exact date when heating and hot water will be back. She put the request to director Petar Petrov at a meeting of the Sofia City Council (SOS) engineering infrastructure committee, called over the many breakdowns, mostly in the city's eastern districts.
Last Thursday, Mayor Vasil Terziev told the council that a concession is the only workable option for the company.
How it all started: Terziev says concession is the only workable option for Toplofikatsia Sofia, BSP opposes it
By law, Toplofikatsia owes its customers compensation, Manolova said, and it must be shown correctly on the November bills, which people will get in December. If it is not paid, class action lawsuits will follow, she warned.
The company must be ready to supply heat from 1 October to 30 April. Manolova said this legal deadline should set how the company works and protect consumers.
She accused Petrov of mixing up planned repairs, breakdowns and maintenance. She said breakdowns are logged as planned repairs or maintenance because no compensation is due for those. Manolova warned the director that if he tries to rig the final figures on the time without heating and hot water, customers will go to court.
People do not care when the business plan was adopted, what analyses exist or why the public procurement tenders were announced so late, Manolova said. They want what they are entitled to: heating and hot water. Customers are not responsible for whether the company has money to repair and maintain the heating network, she added.
On the concession as a way to fix the company's finances, Manolova told Petrov that "people don't even want to hear about a concession". She said they even suspect the delays in repairs have some purpose. Under a concession, she said, Sofia residents would pay the concession fee, the concessionaire's loan, its profit margin and its rate of return on capital.
Toplofikatsia's management apparently cannot renegotiate the interest on its debts, Manolova said, so the council leadership and the mayor of Sofia must step in. She said the company owes money to Bulgargaz, and the debt is growing and is not being paid. "You are not paying for this gas either, which has indeed got more expensive," she told the director.
Manolova said she has attended every session of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (KEVR) on prices and general terms for energy companies for more than 10 years. Not once has she seen the mayor of Sofia there, or a representative of the council leadership, which is the company's principal.