Bucharest spends EUR 132 mln a year on sanitation, joint international tender in plan to lower costs

Each of Bucharest's districts spends some EUR 22 million a year on sanitation and garbage disposal, which brings the total annual expenditure in Bucharest to some EUR 132 million a year, according to Bucharest general mayor Sorin Oprescu.

The city hall plans to organize an international tender for sanitation services in Bucharest, and argued that the current service contracts are expensive and were awarded based on personal connections and bribery. “A lot of money goes on sanitation, and people are not very happy, EUR 22 million a year for each district. Garbage is a huge business [...],” said the mayor when talking to the Industries Commission in the Chamber of Deputies, where he explained the changes to the Sanitation Law, currently under Parliamentary debate. In the future, Bucharest would be divided into three sanitation areas, and Oprescu argues that the idea of subdivisions of the current Bucharest districts would only make things worse. Sanitation contracts in Bucharest were canceled in 2011, after the Competition Council went to court against Bucharest District Halls 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 for having extended sanitation contracts without a new bid. The companies currently delivering sanitation services in Bucharest are Romprest, in District 1, Supercom in the District 2, Rosal in District 3, REBU in District 4, Urban in District 6. In District 5, sanitation services are offered by Romprest. editor@romania-insider.com