Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev announced that from Wednesday afternoon, prisoners will take part in garbage collection activities in Sofia’s Krasno Selo district. The measure, he explained, involves individuals convicted of minor offenses rather than repeat offenders. Georgiev added that if the mayor of Lyulin district requests assistance, similar support from inmates could be arranged there as well.

The initiative comes amid Sofia’s deepening waste collection crisis, which has drawn widespread political and public attention. The crisis prompted several political leaders to express strong views on how the capital’s waste management should be handled.

"Revival" leader Kostadin Kostadinov argued that the solution lies in transferring all waste collection and disposal activities directly under municipal control. Speaking in Parliament, he noted that municipalities managing their own waste collection are cleaner and operate at a lower cost. As an example, he cited Straldzha municipality in the Yambol region, where local management reportedly cut waste collection costs by threefold after taking over from a private contractor. Kostadinov criticized what he described as entrenched “mafia presence” in the sector and accused both state and municipal administrations of responsibility for the recurring crisis. He called on Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev to take decisive action and on Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s government to eliminate organized crime influence from public services.

Radostin Vassilev, leader of the "Morality, Unity, Honor" (MECH) party, also addressed the waste crisis, expressing his party’s full support for Mayor Terziev in confronting waste management companies that he said submitted bids up to three times higher than the indicative prices, seeking to “drain nearly a billion leva from Sofia Municipality.” Vassilev warned that by governing Sofia, Terziev is directly confronting criminal networks tied to the waste management industry. He accused the mayor of waiting for a crisis instead of terminating exploitative contracts earlier. Vassilev also criticized authorities for their handling of the recent flooding, accusing them of avoiding responsibility and ignoring the issue.

Meanwhile, "We Continue the Change" (WCC) co-leader Asen Vassilev said the situation in Sofia’s Lyulin and Krasno Selo districts was beginning to stabilize. He called for the municipality to build its own waste management capacity, noting that municipal waste collection is cheaper and fairer for residents. He opposed “triple waste fees for triple profits” by private firms and commended Mayor Terziev for resisting such practices.

Vassilev urged the Interior Ministry to identify those responsible for setting fire to garbage trucks belonging to a company involved in the tender process. He also asked the Environment Ministry to clarify why it revoked the license of a foreign company that had sought to participate in the bidding. Commenting on The Wall Street Journal article, he said it was “an exaggeration” to claim Bulgarian politicians could influence the publication’s editorial line. He condemned any suggestion that national interests might be traded to lift sanctions on MP Delyan Peevski.

Vassilev further criticized a bill tabled by GERB’s Delyan Dobrev and the DPS-New Beginning group, saying it undermines the investment screening mechanism by granting Peevski excessive influence over decisions involving Lukoil’s ownership. He also mentioned an extraordinary parliamentary health committee meeting aimed at adopting legislation to support young doctors, criticizing Health Minister Silvi Kirilov for recent remarks that he described as “insulting.” Regarding the Elenite floods, Vassilev said it must be determined whether officials had approved illegal construction and recalled that similar concerns had been ignored as far back as 2009.

At a roundtable on “Urban Waste Management: Crime, Corruption, and Environmental Security,” Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev emphasized that solving the crisis requires a strong and effective state apparatus. He revealed that in two of the capital’s largest zones, only one waste company remained active, charging double the market price. The municipality, he said, refused to sign such contracts and instead launched an emergency two-week cleanup using municipal teams, volunteers, and support from neighboring towns.

Terziev described the conflict as a struggle between transparency and entrenched corruption, stressing that Sofia would not tolerate a system that enriches a few at the expense of the public. He expressed gratitude to Bulgarian and international partners, including Europol, the UK, and the Center for the Study of Democracy, for their support. He concluded that Sofia’s current challenge is “not a waste crisis, but a clash between two worlds, the old one, where people with nicknames and influence dictate the rules, and the new one, where citizens demand transparency, order, and justice.”

Under the emergency waste collection system, residents of the affected districts continue to use the existing gray bins. Once full, smaller trucks transfer the garbage to larger containers placed at several collection points, three in Krasno Selo and eight in Lyulin, before being taken to the waste treatment plant in Yana, near Sofia. There have been unconfirmed reports that garbage from other areas has been dumped in these districts to intensify the crisis.