Sofia city hall, Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) and the National Association of Residential Developers (NARD) reached an out-of-court agreement on the lawsuit filed against the increased building permits fees by a BCCI and NARD against the city hall, Bulgaria news agency (BTA) reported.
The out-of-court settlement was reached at a meeting between Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov and Nikolin Gavrilov, chairman of BCCI, and Plamen Beninski, NARD’s chairman, held on March 18.
They also signed a co-operation agreement, which also provides for the establishment of a standing committee of experts, comprising work panels, which are going to discuss, elaborate and propose different amendments and solutions on issues of mutual interest.
The committee will deliberate on problems such as municipal strategies in the field of investment, construction, budget, infrastructure, Sofia’s cleaning and growth. The committee will host forums on crucial issues and will regulate the relations between entrepreneurs, the city hall, water concession firm Sofiiska Voda, heating utility Toplofikatsia and electricity firm Elektrorazpredenie Stolichno.
Other topices of discussion will be private business’ participation in the development of municipal infrastructure through a system of stimuli and support, organisation, control and extension of public-private partnerships and introducing adequate measures for improving the service, provided by the municipality to businesses.
“Our aim is not to confront construction companies, but to collaborate and jointly solve the existing problems,” Borissov said, as quoted by BTA. The rise in building permits fees is directed to generating more revenue, which, in turn, will be poured in the development of infrastructure, he added.
