Sofia Municipal Council Approved the 2017 Budget

On January 20th Sofia’s Municipal Council approved the budget of the city for 2017. The sum provided to Sofia municipality for the year is BGN 1.328 B (over 60 million increase from 2016).

401 million of the approved budget are assigned for investment activities, most of them will be allocated into actions toward green city environment.

Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova said that the modernization of public transport in Sofia continues to be a priority in 2017.  The construction of the third metro line will continue with an investment of BGN 243.6 million. Thirteen new trams, 30 new buses as well as 120 more vehicles running on natural gas will increase the public transit fleet in the city. Around 10% of the tram lines in the city will be renovated.

Investment plans include 33.8 million BGN for the reconstructions of West Park, park “Vartopo” in “Mladost”, NDK Square and the Sofia Zoo.

Cultural activities will be supported with 34 million for theaters, schools, and kindergartens. The municipality also allocated BGN 500 000 for the upcoming “Sofia – European Capital of Sport”.

The budget does not provide for an increase in local taxes.