Analysis by Valentin IVANOV
At some point you realize that the problem with garbage is not the garbage. And who decides who cleans it, at what price and in what way?
For years in Sofia we paid a lot, received little and were told that “it's like that everywhere“.
That it's complicated.
That there is no alternative.
That if you don't sign, it will get worse.
We will fill the city with garbage and it will get worse.
This was not management, but retreat and upbringing in fear and obedience.
That's why the battle over garbage collection is so noisy today.
Not because someone is suddenly concerned about the bins, but because for the first time someone refused to sign contracts out of fear.
Yes, Vasil Terziev, good or bad, set his own rules – the rules of the municipality and the citizens.
That's how it should be. The rules are set by the government, which received a mandate from the citizens, not by people who live off the city's money.
What he did seems simple, but it is extremely rare: he said “no“.
He did not accept the ultimatum “either you sign or the city will sink“.
He did not agree to maintain the old model with a new signature, even at a much higher price.
It is clear that all of us as residents of Sofia are paying this huge price.
Every day we are in front of overflowing garbage cans.
The fact is that by being patient, we support the mayor in this battle, and it is not just for him, but for all of us.
Here we are also talking about 400 million leva, which is not just a number, but at least 30-40 new children's gardens.
And here we come to the point. In the underworld, the most valuable currency is not just money. It's fear.
More precisely, the belief that there's no point in fighting back because "they are all-powerful" and you'll suffer. You will lose.
For years, these people did not seem untouchable because they were invincible.
They seemed that way because everyone behaved as if they were.
They signed up “for peace“.
They kept quiet “for stability“.
They paid dearly “so that there would be no problem“.
This only postponed the problem, because there was one.
And it is not who cleans, but under what conditions.
And thus the myth is born.
The names around which this myth revolved are well known.
Christophoros Amanatidis (“Taki“) – a figure described in numerous investigative journalistic publications as a symbol of influence without consequences.
Data, signals, documents – all this has existed for years. Facts about which the authorities are helpfully silent. Only one thing was missing: someone in a position to say “no”.
Rumen Gaitanski (“Wolf“) – the embodiment of the old model in garbage collection: monopoly positions, public funds, political comfort.
Millions of our money turned into luxury properties and garages with hypercars. For decades this was not a problem – not because it was normal, but because no one opposed it.
It was convenient that way.
And here's the key point:
The underworld doesn't collapse when you take away its money, because its income comes not only from garbage, but from drugs and crime.
It collapses when you take away its aura. The legend. The moment the mayor of the capital refuses to sign –
without slogans, without theater, just with a cold „no“ – the image of the all-powerful is starting to crack.
This also applies to figures like Delyan Peevski: they appear powerful, while everyone else acts as if they are.
The moment someone confronts them, they cease to be a myth and become simply people with interests.
That's why there is hysteria today. Not because someone lost money. But because for the first time, someone didn't bend.
And now the most important thing:
This is not a personal cause of a mayor. This is a test for society.
Such battles are not won with a single refusal by a single person.
They are won when citizens are not afraid.
Because if today we say “enough is enough, nothing will happen“, tomorrow everything will return with the same people, with the same contracts, only even more expensive and even more brazen.
Until they demand something else – at an even higher price.
Fear works as long as we believe in it.
The moment we stop, the all-powerful turn out to be simply temporary.
They fall away and flow down the drain.