site.btaMunicipal Councillor Accuses Sofia Mayor of Purge in Administration, Mayor Disproves Claims

At a news briefing here on Thursday, Sofia Municipal Councillor Georgi Georgiev of GERB-UDF said that 325 employees of Sofia Municipality and district administrations have been laid off or left voluntarily after the local elections, despite the election campaign promise of Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev that there would not be a purge. This has cost Sofianites BGN 1.4 million in salary compensations, Georgiev said.

He cited information provided by Terziev that the number of laid-off employees is 110 or 10% of those working for Sofia Municipality. Over 10% were laid off in district administrations, with Ilinden Mayor Emil Branchevski holding the top position for highest number of dismissed employees: 20 in three months.

In Georgiev's words, 325 people were left jobless so that a job would be provided for 325 people of Terziev's Continue the Change party. "It is very alarming that people appointed way before GERB's governance are losing their jobs," Georgiev added.

Reacting to Georgiev's claims, Terziev and Sofia Deputy Mayor in charge of finance Ivan Vassilev gave a news briefing where they presented data refuting the Municipal Councillor's claim. A total of 128 employees have left Sofia Municipality since the new administration took office in October 2023, Vassilev said. That is 8.9% of all1,442 full-time employees.

Out of these 128 employees, 37 began working elsewhere, 8 moved to another administration, 16 retired, 41 were laid off with mutual understanding, and 20 were dismissed at the employer's initiative with an agreed compensation. The latter constitute 1.4% of all Sofia Municipality employees, Vassilev specified. The compensations paid during the same period total BGN 727,880, meaning Sofia Municipality paid BGN 6,856 per person on average.

The compensations were paid in conformity with the law, Vassilev underscored. "Everything else that will be said today will be an attempt at manipulation, influencing on the attitudes of the administration's employees, and misleading society," he added.