site.btaUPDATED Toplofikacia Sofia Executive Director Aleksandrov Resigns

The Executive Director of the Toplofikacia Sofia heating utility, Aleksander Aleksandrov, announced his resignation in a statement sent to BTA on Thursday.

"I have decided to step down as Executive Director of Toplofikacia Sofia EAD, because I do not want to occasion or be subject to political speculations and manipulative suggestions that undermine my reputation and intend to question my professional expertise and ethics," Aleksandrov said in his statement.

"Over the last 5 years, Toplofikacia Sofia has made several major steps towards digitization of processes, which have brought it closer to the advanced utility companies in the sector. We have successfully pursued the implementation of a state-of-the-art automated platform for thermal and hydraulic modelling, monitoring and management of the heat transmission network," he added.

Aleksandrov further wrote: "Over the past five years, our efforts have been rewarded with a steady upward trend in the number of our customers, which has increased by 15,094, or 3.4%. During the same period, 585 new buildings were connected to the heat transmission network and the route was extended by more than 24 km. We faced the challenge of operating and maintaining a heat transmission network built in the middle of the last century without sufficient liquidity for the necessary investment and repair works".

Аt a news briefing at Sofia Municipal Council on June 6, Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria-Save Sofia demanded the resignation of Aleksandrov alleging a conflict of interest and misuse of public procurement contracts worth some BGN 217 million. In response, Toplofikacia Sofia categorically denied the allegations, adding that, as a contracting authority, it acts in strict application of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act and the regulation for its implementation.