Furious Clients Give Sofia Heating Utility Ugly Facelift

Disgruntled clients of Toplofikatsiya Sofia pasted their inexplicably high bills all over the fence, encircling the building of the heating utility office in Borovo district. Photo by Monitor.bg

Bulgaria's capital has seen an unusual protest against the extremely high heating bills that shocked subscribers and triggered mass indignation.

On Sunday, disgruntled clients of Toplofikatsiya Sofia pasted their inexplicably high bills all over the fence, encircling the building of the heating utility office in Borovo district. The total sum of the charges on the bill towered to BGN 10 000.

Bills for the first month of 2012 are higher by 20-30% than the previous month, although most people did not change their consumption.

Some elderly protestors argued that they are forced to pay more than BGN 100-150 per month although their radiators haven't really been working.

This happens when some of the residents in a block of flats disconnect from the heating system altogether, officials explained. In this case the rest of the residents have to cover a bigger chunk of the block's overall heating expenses.

Toplofikatsiya's problems with the management and its clients started when the company was found to be in tatters and its head Valentin Dimitrov tried on charges of embezzlement and money laundering.

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