site.btaSofia Mayor Confers with Budapest Counterpart

Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev said in a Facebook post Saturday evening that he had conferred with his Budapest counterpart, Gergely Karacsony. "Meeting with mayors of European capitals is always beneficial for Sofia's development," Terziev wrote.

Teziev is part of President Rumen Radev’s delegation during the head of State's official visit to Hungary and Switzerland.

"Working in a complex political environment is no obstacle to carrying out projects for the city. We discussed ideas on how we can make our cities better places to live and grow, drawing on shared experiences," the Sofia Mayor said. He noted that the construction of a new concert hall in the Bulgarian capital was among the topics of discussion, adding that it is a joint initiative with President Radev.

"The upgrading of public transport is one of the important changes that have had a major impact on the quality of life in Budapest. We are actively working with the Sofia Municipality team on proposals on how to improve public transport in Sofia and renew the rolling stock," Terziev said in his post.

In his words, the tendency to transform the central parts of the city from residential areas into rental housing zones is a structural problem. There is no solution to set the opposite trend for the time being, the Sofia Mayor noted.

Building sports infrastructure is what every city with ambitions to invest in people's health needs to do, Terziev said, adding that it is important to build and renovate outdoor sports facilities to encourage people of all ages to be active.

Sofia has a great potential to become an attractive tourist destination like Budapest if, along with the development of its mineral springs, it actively works to attract different profiles of tourists, Terziev said.

During their meeting, Terziev and Karacsony also discussed urban governance and planning and the efficient and transparent management of city finances.