Protest in Sofia’s Lyulin District over Rubbish Crisis

A protest took place in the 'Lyulin' residential district of Sofia on October 30 over the ongoing rubbish-collection crisis. Residents are demanding the reinstatement of regular rubbish removal. The Sofia Municipality stated that the situation is being normalised and suggested that the protest has a political undertone.

Two demonstrations were held at the same time in Lyulin in response to the rubbish collection crisis.

Photos by Dessislava Kulelieva, BNT

Todorina: “We are literally buried in rubbish, all the bins are overflowing, there’s no space, not only in the bins but around them too, and the children have to breathe in all this filth.”

One group called for the resignation of the district mayor of Lyulin, while others distanced themselves from such demands and instead called for the waste-collection service to return to normal.

Ivan: “We’re here because of the rubbish.”

Nadezhda Doycheva: “As far as I can see, they want the mayor of Lyulin to resign. We don’t want the resignation of any mayor right now. We just want the normal situation we had 35 days ago.”

The Sofia Municipality commented that waste collection is returning to normal and the city will not fall into a rubbish-management crisis.

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The Sofia Municipality said that the situation with garbage is normalizing and Sofia will not fall into a waste crisis.

Nadezhda Bobcheva, Deputy Mayor of Sofia: “We are aware of today's protest. It is one of 13 public events approved by the Sofia Municipality for today. From what I understand, it concerns the lack of waste collection in the Lyulin district. I can categorically state that this is not the case, as the situation has already significantly improved. There are no areas left unserviced in the past two days. Some of the organisers have known political links to parties represented in the Sofia Municipal Council.”

The municipality added that it is also considering the option for some of the areas with expiring rubbish collection contracts to select new companies through direct contracting.