Unprecedented interest in public procurement for waste management in Sofia was registered by the Sofia Municipality. A total of 15 offers from 11 different companies, including foreign ones, have been submitted for the seven announced positions, which represents the highest competition in the history of such tenders in the capital.
Mayor Vasil Terziev emphasized that this result is a direct effect of the introduced transparent and fair participation conditions. "We created equal opportunities that attracted diverse participants, including smaller companies that have not been part of the waste cleaning market before," he said.
The distribution of offers by zones shows serious interest from various contractors. For Zone 2, covering the districts of "Iskar", "Pancharevo" and "Kremikovtsi", offers have been submitted by "ESS" DZZD, ZMBG EAD and BKS "Chistota" EOOD. In Zone 3 with districts "Izgrev", "Slatina" and "Poduyane", "Consortium Chistota Sredets", "ESS" DZZD and "Sorico-Baks" DZZD are competing.
For the districts "Ilinden", "Nadezhda" and "Serdika", "Norm Sanai Yurynleri", ZMBG EAD and "Nelsen - Chistota" EOOD have applied. In Zone 5 with districts "Bankya", "Vrabnitsa" and "Novi Iskar", BKS "Chistota" and "Nelsen - Chistota" are participating. Zone 6, including "Lyulin" and "Krasno Selo", attracts "Norm Sanai Yurynleri" and "Consortium Cleaning Triaditsa".
For zones 1 and 7, which currently have only one candidate each, the Sofia Municipality took a strategic decision to extend the deadline by two weeks, aiming to guarantee higher competition.
Deputy Mayor for Ecology Nadezhda Bobcheva explained that the main goal of the new contracts is a significant improvement of the service. The contracts, which will be valid until 2030, introduce a number of essential changes.
Among the key innovations are drastically increased sanctions for non-performance - from two to ten times higher than before. The introduction of a modern automatic control system using sensors, cameras, and on-board computers is envisaged, which practically eliminates the possibilities for abuse.
The new requirements also include expanding mechanized cleaning - more intensive high-pressure street washing and additional equipment for snow clearing of sidewalks and secondary streets. Warranty conditions have also been changed - bank guarantees have been increased from 1% to 2% of the contract value.
An expert commission of representatives from the Sofia Municipality and the Sofia Inspectorate is already working on the received offers. The process will go through three main stages: initial compliance check, detailed evaluation of proposed solutions, and analysis of price parameters.
Expectations are to select contractors for all zones by the end of October. Sanctions for non-performance are precisely defined - from 1,000 leva for a missed container to 100,000 leva for systemic violations of contractual obligations.