site.btaPresident Discusses Sofia's Modernization with Mayor

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev discussed the modernization of the city and its development as a contemporary European capital, the President's Press Secretariat reported on Monday. Terziev briefed his host on the main priorities of his team, the foremost of which is to enhance the transparency of the work of the local administration and public procurement procedures.

The sides discussed the prospects of financial decentralization and of giving real power to municipalities to enable the local authorities to implement their policies in the best interests of the citizens. Ways to improve the urban environment, air pollution control, tourism promotion and the digitization of public services to facilitate citizens' communication with the municipal authorities were also among the highlights of the meeting.

The President noted that Sofia's location at the foot of a mountain gives it an advantage over other European capitals. He called on the institutions, NGOs, the sport community and businesses to pool their efforts to find a clear solution for the development of the Mt Vitosha Nature Park to make it more accessible for recreation and sport purposes. This, he said, will give Bulgaria better chances of hosting international winter sport competitions.

Radev and Terziev reviewed the state of play of a public initiative to build a new music venue in Sofia to meet the cultural needs of Sofianites, and Bulgarians in general.