National Audit Office to Inspect Management of Sofia Public Transport Co.

Bulgaria’s National Audit Office will inspect the management of the Sofia Urban Mobility Centre, the municipal company operating public transport in the Bulgarian capital.

This was decided by the parliamentary budget and finance committee on Thursday, daily Dnevnik informs.

This development comes after last month's scandal regarding the award of BGN 235 730 public tender for the equipment of sixty bus stops in Sofia.

An investigation by private NOVA TV revealed that the tender was awarded to a firm owned by the husband of MP from the largest ruling party, Irena Kotseva.

Furthermore, photos showed the official car of the then deputy mayor of Sofia in charge of transport, Lyubomir Hristov, parked outside the house of the MP in the town of Samokov.

Hristov admitted that he is close ties with the family, but distinguished himself from Sofia Urban Mobility Centre which had awarded the tender.

As a result of the scandal, Hristov, Kotseva and the management of Sofia Urban Mobility Centre all resigned.

Independent analysts have estimated that the cost of equipping the bus stops should be twice lower. The tender is also the subject of inspection by the prosecutor’s office.

Since the beginning of April, Sofia mayor, Yordanka Fandakova, has ordered full inspection of public tenders awarded by the municipal company.

The inspection by the audit office will encompass the period between 1 January 2014 and 30 June 2016 and will focus both on public tenders and the financial management of the company.

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