Municipal councilors from PP-DB, "Save Sofia" and Blue Sofia are submitting a report to the Sofia Municipal Council for the replacement of the director of the Sofia Autotransport Stilyan Manolov, as well as the entire management, due to damaging the municipality with tens of thousands of euros.
The specific reason is the two contracts concluded, which in their opinion are seriously damaging the municipality. At the explicit insistence of the chairman of the PP-DB group, Boyko Dimitrov, a proposal to change the interim management and start a competition to select a new one was included in the agenda of the meeting on February 12.
The facts presented by municipal councilor Simeon Stavrev are that the management of Stolichne Autotranslatov EAD signed a contract on January 30 for the supply of 25 18-year-old used Mercedes-Benz O 530 G Citaro buses worth 2,369,837.87 euros.
Thus, one bus costs 94,793.51 euros excluding VAT, given that the municipal councilors found the same buses by frame number in a car dealership in Germany with an average price of about 9,900 euros per bus. These data were presented at a special press conference on January 19, when it was Stilyan Manolov who announced in the media that he would not sign such a contract.
We buy buses according to criteria set by the Municipal Council. The allegations of inflated prices and the existence of a “scandal“ are tendentiously speculative and, once again, more than unreliable. Last but not least, Mr. Simeon Stavrev, as well as other members of the Municipal Council, should already know that there is a difference between being a public transport operator and acquiring a car for personal use that you liked on an internet ad.
This was written on Thursday in the official position to the media of the executive director of “Stolichne avtomobil“ Stilyan Manolov.
Last but not least: thebuses we will receive are not those distributed by the said member of the Sofia Municipal Council. On the other hand, “Stolichne Avtotransport“ has no mechanisms to influence the pricing policy of any of our counterparties. The prices at which our supplier will purchase buses are also not clear to us, Stilyan Manolov specified.