Sofia, Bulgaria: Yordanka Fandakova, mayor of Sofia, announced that the new kindergarten in the district “Upper Banya” with seats for 140 children will be ready by the end of the year.
She expressed her disappointment saying, “Unfortunately, this is the only garden whose construction was stopped by the decision of the contractor, the mayor of the Ovcha Kupel district, and was extremely delayed”.
Mayor Fandakova explained that the reason behind the delay was rising construction materials prices; construction firms at all sites insisted on indexing contracts. However, only the construction of this kindergarten was stopped. She emphasized that the municipality secured 2.6 million. lv. on the initially signed contract by the district mayor Mr Angel Stefanov for the completion of construction.
The mayor of Sofia remarked that the contractor conveyed that the building will be completed by the end of August. She said, “From what is seen on the spot, the promise looks unrealistic”.
Keeping her confidence in Mayor Stefanov, Fandakova stated that Mayor Upper Banya will do what was necessary to meet the deadline and take action to sanction the delay.
Currently, 21 kindergartens are being built on the territory of the Metropolitan Municipality. Fifteen of them will be completed by the end of the year. With them, the Sofia Municipality will reveal 105 new groups, which will minimize the shortage of spaces for garden groups.
Mayor Yordanaka explained that in 2021 and 2022, she received a promise from the previous regular government that it would co-finance the construction of kindergartens in Sofia. However, the promise still needs to be made. She hopes the state will allocate funds to Sofia’s children this year.