The sanitation services provided by Romprest in Sector 1 of the Capital will cost 239 million lei this year, according to the company’s 2021 budget obtained by Economedia. If we add to this the past unpaid bills, the amounts owed to the company amount to a quarter of the total budget of the district, which estimates total revenues of 1.12 billion lei this year. Sanitation services in Sector 1 cost almost five times more than in Oradea, a city similar in terms of population.
At the beginning of the year, Romprest estimated a budget of 201 million lei (239.42 VAT included), of which only sanitation was estimated to cost 151.7 million lei, while waste collection, transport, and treatment were estimated at 38.5 million lei, and snow removal 10.9 million lei.
Romprest also notified the City Hall of Sector 1 that there are arrears for the payment of services provided and invoiced in 2020 in the amount of 90.84 million lei.
For comparison, the sanitation tariffs in Oradea are five times lower than those in Sector 1. Oradea last year concluded an 8-year concession contract with the German company RER, during this period the sanitation, snow removal, and waste collection services following to cost 356 million lei without VAT (423 million lei with VAT). Therefore, the cost of sanitation in a single year in Oradea is only 52.8 million lei, five times lower than in Sector 1 in Bucharest. Oradea currently has 201,000 inhabitants, and Sector 1 has about 229,000 inhabitants.
The sanitation contract between Romprest and the City Hall of Sector 1 was signed in 2008, for a period of 25 years during the term of the former mayor Adrian Chiliman (2004 – 2015). Between 2016 and 2020, the sector was led by Daniel Tudorache. The latter had previously held, between 2008 and 2011, the position of Deputy Mayor of Sector 1.
According to confidas.ro, Romprest SA had a turnover of 241 million lei last year, a profit of 23 million lei and 2,600 employees.
Sector 1 garbage scandal
Romprest recently refused to pick up the garbage in Sector 1, citing that the City Hall of Sector 1 did not pay its bills. In her turn, mayor Clotilde Armand stated that she did not pay the bills because the company would invoice inflated amounts for services that were not provided.
Clotilde Armand even asked the Local Committee for Emergency Situations to submit to the Prefecture of Bucharest an address in which to declare the state of alert due to the sanitary situation in the territorial area of Sector 1.
On Saturday, Romprest announced that it will resume the garbage collection activity in Sector 1, after reaching an agreement with its partners that manage the sorting ramp.
The mayor of sector 1, Clotilde Armand, published on Monday on the institution’s website the invoices paid to Romprest Service from the moment of taking over its mandate until May 2021.
The documents show that the mayor’s office paid 13 bills worth 23.7 million lei in the last half-year for services for sorting, treating, and storing waste from the population and public institutions subordinated to the local public administration in Sector 1.
Translated from Romanian by Service For Life S.R.L.