The mayor of Sofia, Vasil Terziev, explained how he is fighting one of the biggest problems in Bulgaria.
My team and I are committed to fighting corruption in all its forms, because we are convinced that deterring it not only contributes to the development and well-being of all, but also makes us stronger, more resilient to risks, more ethical and ultimately more sustainable as a society and economy. This is what Vasil Terziev wrote on his Facebook profile. Fighting and tackling corruption requires political will, civil intolerance and allies. We have the first two. We are working to attract more and more allies. Corruption steals from our future and stops our development, adds Terziev.
The Mayor of Sofia points out that at the security conference in Munich with the CEO of Transparency International – Berlin, Daniel Erickson, they discussed the possibilities of cooperation for risk analysis and the measures to be developed and implemented in the Metropolitan Municipality.
This week, Terziev also attended the second national conference “Combating Vulnerabilities to Corruption at the Municipal Level”, organized by the International Republican Institute (IRI) and met with the regional director for Europe, Paul McCarthy. IRI’s program for anti-corruption reforms was adopted by the Metropolitan City Council in February 2023, but active work on it has stopped, Terziev also writes. Nikola Lyutov, the deputy mayor of the “Legal and Administrative Control” department, committed to continue the partnership with IRI and to implement the planned measures in practice, he adds.
McCarthy congratulated Terziev’s team for the open and accessible approach to the public discussion of the draft budget for 2024. Transparency is indeed the best cure for all the ills of governance, so it not only does not bother us, but we encourage it by all means that the law allows us, the capital’s mayor also notes. According to him, the goal is to create an environment and favorable conditions for the exercise of civil control over the work of the local administration.
After our first discussion with representatives of organizations that have been working in the field of anti-corruption for years, we have a number of meetings again in the coming weeks to discuss in detail both potential pilot projects and plans for long-term cooperation, adds Terziev. Deterring corruption is a commitment we owe to all Sofians and the entire society, he also wrote.
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