site.btaSofia Public Transport: From Financial Pressure to Crisis

The liabilities which Sofia's city bus company Stolichen Avtotransport owed for fuel and other products and services as at the end of January 2022 amounted to 21.3 million leva, including 17.3 million leva in overdue payments. This transpired at Monday's meeting of the Transport Committee of the Sofia Municipal Council (SMC), the SMC press office reported. Transport Committee Deputy Chair Zafir Zarkov commented that the pressure exerted by the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation on the public transport system in the Bulgarian capital has grown into a full-fledged financial crisis.

City Hall needs 178 million leva to keep its public transport system functioning normally. Unless the central government provides financial support, the municipal authorities will have to close bus lines and to increase the intervals at which public transport vehicles run, which will reduce the quality of the service, the municipality says.

The city's tram and trolley-bus operator Stolichen Elektrotransport incurred over 13 million leva in electricity expenses in the whole of 2021 and 3.8 million leva in January 2022 alone. The underground railway company, commonly referred to as the Metro, has incurred 4.4 million leva in current expenses for electricity, maintenance and consumables so far in 2022. The Metro also has overdue liabilities to the Sofia Directorate of Interior amounting to 6.5 million leva, which puts the company's total debt at 10.9 million leva.

The main reason for the difficult situation of Sofia's public transport is the COVID pandemic, which has entailed a drastic reduction of the passenger flow and fare revenues. The economic crisis, including the rise in fuel and electricity prices, has also increased the operators' indebtedness, company CEOs say.