At any cost, we will return Vitosha to the citizens and it will become a place for year-round sports and tourism, said the capital's mayor
"Our commitment is that by the end of our mandate there will be at least one working lift on Vitosha Mountain. We are working for a more comprehensive solution for the lifts, not a piecemeal one." This was said by the mayor of Sofia, Vasil Terziev, at a joint briefing together with the chairman of the group of municipal councilors of PP–DB–Save Sofia Boris Bonev, municipal councilors Bonka Vasileva, Dragomir Ivanov and the mayor of Vitosha district Zarko Klinkov.
"We heard a lot of fiction about Vitosha and another portion of GERB shifting blame for something they created. We have to have conversations about how in 6 months we have not been able to fix things for which they had 35 periods of six months from the time they sold the lifts," said Mayor Terziev. "The contract with "Vitosha Ski" is 7 pages long, and everyone can judge how well the interests of Sofia residents are protected," said the capital's mayor.
Terziev recalled that he and his team inherited problems such as the non-working garbage plant, the city's video surveillance, etc., which they had to solve.
"We are looking for a solution for the infrastructure of the mountain, and for the Dragalevsky and Simeonovsky lifts. All legal possibilities to see where the intersection is between the ideal and what is possible. It will soon be seen if the talks with the owners would lead to a solution", Vasil Terziev also stated.
Regarding the decision about the non-working lifts, the mayor informed: "We have the opportunity to restore them with our funds, our hope is that we can do more and soon it will be seen if the conversations with the owners will lead us to a solution, if not - we do have a plan B. And that is to restore at least the Dragalevsky lift," said Terziev.
"At any cost, we will return Vitosha to the citizens and it will become an accessible place for year-round sports and tourism. We are ready to talk with the company to find a quick solution to build new lifts along the routes of the existing ones. In case of reluctance to cooperate, I am ready to issue an order in accordance with my powers under the Law on Territorial Planning (ZUT) to remove the dangerous non-working facilities," Mayor Terziev also said.
Boris Bonev recalled that the Vitosha lifts were privatized in 2007 during the time of Mayor Boyko Borisov. In the contract, there is no requirement for working lifts or their maintenance, and there are no conditions under which it can be terminated. All documents related to the privatization contract and post-privatization control have been requested, so the truth will come out, the municipal councilors also pointed out.
The mayor of "Vitosha", Zarko Klinkov, explained that by order of the mayor Terziev, an inspection was carried out on January 4, 2024, which found that one engine had broken down. The owner "Vitosha Ski" has promised that it will be repaired in 4 months and has made a commitment to have the lift working, but so far this has not happened.
