Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev has responded to the ongoing public transport strike, emphasizing that the municipality cannot meet the protesters' financial demands. "I don’t see how I can give what the protesters want. It’s not a matter of stubbornness. When there’s no money - there’s no money," Terziev stated during an interview on Nova TV. He said he invited the unions to a meeting on Monday and asked them to present their financial statements to assess the situation.

According to the mayor, a proposed 180 leva salary increase would create a 55 million leva deficit in the transport budget. Granting the requested 300 leva raise for public transport employees would prevent the construction of half of the planned new kindergartens in Sofia. "You can’t take money from the capital program, because a large part of the funds there are loans designated for specific projects," Terziev explained, reiterating that the city simply does not have the funds to meet the demands.

Addressing the impact of the strike on city traffic, Terziev said the municipality is considering making buffer parking lots free and compensating public transport cardholders. Discussions are ongoing about temporarily suspending paid parking zones and allowing cars to use bus lanes, though legal and logistical challenges remain. "The opinion from yesterday is that driving in bus lanes cannot be allowed, but the conversation is ongoing," he noted.

Meanwhile, the garbage collection crisis looms large as the municipality grapples with a 100 million leva debt. Terziev emphasized that paying salaries, electricity, and water bills takes precedence, adding that there is currently no budget for garbage collection companies.

Union representatives also spoke out on the matter. Alexander Shopov from the CITUB Federation of Transport Trade Unions said that the unions are pushing for a meeting with municipal officials before Monday. "Monday is too late," he stated, warning that if discussions do not happen before then, there will be no surface transport in Sofia. Shopov also clarified that the 4,000 leva salary figures circulating in the media include 80 hours of overtime and are not indicative of base pay. According to Georgi Panayotov from the Podkrepa Trade Union, the base salary for public transport drivers is 2,105 leva, and many of them are working excessive overtime due to a shortage of staff.

Both union leaders apologized for the inconvenience caused to Sofia residents but defended the strike as a legitimate form of protest. "This is a higher form of democracy," said Shopov, adding that the unions had warned the municipality multiple times that the situation was approaching a breaking point due to mounting frustration among workers.