The City Hall of Bulgaria's capital Sofia is ready to regulate the existence of private cemeteries by amending the municipal order for burial grounds.

The project is submitted with the Sofia Municipal Council. Currently there is one private cemetery in Sofia – in the suburb of Boyana, but the establishment, management, and the internal order of such grounds, is not regulated by a decree and any other documentation.

The project had also been discussed by the City Hall's Committee for Education, Science, Culture and Religion, but the vote has been postponed over the emerging of new proposals that need to be examined. The first draft is published on the City Hall web page.

The discussion also included representatives of different organizations dealing with funerals. They voiced their firm opposition of the regulation of private cemeteries by the municipality and complained that no one had asked their opinion. Some said the new decree will lead to a price hike of at least BGN 500 per funeral if private cemeteries begin opening in Sofia, reminding how emergency cremation prices increased from BGN 400 to BGN 1 000 after the activity was privatized.

The municipal councilman from the far-right, nationalist Ataka party also opposed the amendments with the motive they would lead to the establishment of private Muslim cemeteries and separate Christian ones, which will divide society even further.