Yordanka Fandakova, who won the mayoral elections in Sofia eight days ago, was sworn in before the Sofia Municipal Council as Mayor of Sofia on Monday.

"I will continue the implementation of the current projects for the building of the underground railway and other infrastructure. I will step up the projects for the building of car parks and bicycle alleys. I will devote maximum effort to lighting in all areas, and to the cultural and historical heritage.

I will work together with the central government. I will count on my team, but I will seek consultation from the best experts in the respective areas. I will work together with all borough mayors - they are closest to citizens and are clear about their problems, and the problems and their solutions have no [political] colour," Fandakova said.

The Mayor said she will be open to remarks and will try to avoid mistakes. "We could use more local patriotism when protecting the interests of our fellow citizens," she said.

Bishop Ioan of Znepole conveyed congratulations from the Head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Maksim, on Fandakova's election as Mayor of Sofia.

Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, who heads the ruling GERB party, said: "From today on, Sofia has a woman mayor. I can say on behalf of the Bulgarian government that the dialogue which we started with the National Association of Municipalities and with Sofia Municipality will continue.

We will do everything possible to co-finance important projects. We are convinced that this is the normal dialogue between the local and central governments. We will not allow what happened under the previous government - that is, confrontation between it and Sofia Municipality."

Taking a journalist's question, Fandakova said: "Sofia should be a clean and comfortable city appropriate for living in. To me, it is important that the city be orderly, even from the point of view of advertising, which is chaotic at the moment."

Fandakova said she will preserve the current team of Sofia Municipality. She will propose a deputy mayor for transport by the end of this week. Concerning the domain of education, she will decide whether she will have a deputy in charge of it after she handles it for some time.

The Mayor will invite European Commission representatives to Sofia to update them on the progress made in waste disposal. She will also hold meetings in Brussels.

Source: BTA