Mayors, budgets and city programmes

Opened in Plovdiv on 15 August 1892; according to International Fair Plovdiv, exhibitors came from 25 countries and visitors reached 167,000.

On 1 October 1916 a Supreme Charity Committee was created and temporarily took over much of social policy. Its budget rose from BGN 3,000 to BGN 472,515 in 1918; 13 student canteens opened and 3,000 poor families received support.

Municipal surveys under Bozhidar Zdravkov found 6,600 pupils in 21 primary schools and 3,100 pupils in six lower-secondary schools; primary education needed 18 new school buildings.

Under mayor Bozhidar Zdravkov, Plovdiv opened the second nursery of its kind in Bulgaria and the municipality allocated over BGN 600,000 over three years. Public kitchens began, the first stage of a new old people home was completed and a shelter for beggars was created.

After 19 May 1934, elected mayors were replaced by appointment from central government, while the municipal council lost its leading role and became mainly consultative.

The 1940 budget allocated BGN 12.7M for public works and water supply, focused on the outer neighbourhoods Borislav, Hristo Botev and Saray-kur; sanitation and healthcare were listed at BGN 5.3M.

The Regional History Museum Plovdiv study describes how, on 9 September 1944, the previous municipal leadership headed by Dimitar Kostov was replaced by a Fatherland Front administration with Dr Asen Kozhuharov as mayor. This gives context to the official mayoral chronology.

The 1945 budget directed about one third of spending to public works. Priorities included sewerage, markets, outer neighbourhoods and about 150 active construction sites.

For the postwar revival of the fair, the Council of Ministers allocated BGN 50M for fair halls and pavilions. Mayor Ivan Perpeliev and deputy mayors participated in the restored fair's governing bodies.

On 1 April 1969, a specialised Old Plovdiv administration was created under the city people's council. The study cites an operating programme through 1975 and BGN 600,000 for 1969, while the city's annual budget was about BGN 25M.

The 1971-1975 five-year programme included the Vacha and Izgrev housing estates, preparation for Trakia, Maritsa river works, an underpass by the Fair, new overpasses, the Adata bridge, district heating and a wastewater treatment plant. The source notes a high share of unrealised works.

The official Plovdiv 2019 site frames 2019 as twenty years after Plovdiv hosted the Month of Culture in 1999.

The Pod tepeto archive article describes Plovdiv as the first Bulgarian city to host the EU's major cultural programme. The programme opened on 28 May and ran until 1 August 1999; it cites about 5,000 artists, including 3,000 Bulgarian artists and 2,000 from 45 countries, about 250 events, including 80 music events, 45 theatre events and 45 exhibitions/art actions. It also notes repairs to the Drama Theatre, City House of Culture and Ancient Theatre.

The National Audit Office audit notes two strategic documents: the Sustainable Development Plan of Plovdiv Municipality for 2001-2006 and the Municipal Development Plan of Plovdiv for 2005-2013. The same source says a separate municipal-property management programme was missing as a strategic document for the 2005-2013 plan.

The audit report cites Decision 212 from 22 May 2002, which increased both revenue and expenditure sides of the 2002 budget by BGN 550,000 for a hospital-waste incineration facility.

Council of Ministers Decree 149 from 29 June 2007 approved BGN 9,900,000 in additional 2007 budget credits for Plovdiv Municipality for two infrastructure works: BGN 2,500,000 to restore the Maritsa ford giving access to the Tsalapitsa landfill and BGN 7,400,000 for sewerage on Bulgaria Boulevard in Plovdiv.

The subsequent evaluation of the municipal development plan reports BGN 260.895M in executed capital-investment expenditure for 2007-2013. By expenditure group, 83% went to acquisition of tangible fixed assets, 15% to major repairs, and land and intangible assets each had about 1%. On average, 55% of the revenue covering the expenditure came from subsidies and targeted transfers from the central budget.

The municipality reports 71 submitted project proposals for 2007-2013, of which 47 were approved and 24 were not approved. The approved projects total BGN 229,275,984.57; grants account for BGN 189,927,229.24 and Plovdiv municipal co-financing for BGN 16,135,074.11. Annual approved values were BGN 6.81M in 2009, BGN 5.16M in 2010, BGN 3.15M in 2011, BGN 194.45M in 2012 and BGN 19.71M in 2013; in 2008 the municipality was a partner with no budget.

The report describes the municipal administration's proposal for Plovdiv to operate in 2008 with a BGN 218.3M draft budget. It allocated BGN 73,064,443 for capital expenditure, or 30% of the total, including BGN 6.885M in remaining targeted state subsidy, BGN 5.829M in 2008 targeted subsidy and BGN 40.679M in municipal own-budget funds. The source is a contemporary media report on a draft budget, not an official adopted-budget decision.

Council of Ministers Decree 72 from 30 March 2009 approved BGN 155,000,000 in additional targeted capital-expenditure subsidies for municipal budgets. In the annex, the Plovdiv Municipality line is BGN 2,000,000 for public works/beautification. The decree allowed these subsidies for urgent repairs to kindergartens, schools, community centres and cultural institutions, water and sewerage improvements, street networks and municipal roads.

Decision 32 from 2011 amended 2009 decisions to accept 100,000 tonnes of baled waste from Sofia Municipality at the Tsalapitsa landfill. The targeted-funding list was revised, including a BGN 5.01M project and sports sites such as Hristo Botev Stadium, Mladost pool, Plovdiv Stadium, the rowing canal, Izgrev and Lokomotiv Stadium.

Council of Ministers Decree 138 from 15 July 2010 approved BGN 2,859,767 in additional 2010 budget credits for Plovdiv Municipality. The funds covered infrastructure works linked to accepting and treating baled waste from Sofia Municipality: BGN 772,785 for major repair and reconstruction of kindergartens and schools, BGN 86,982 for engineering a road connection in Gladno Pole and BGN 2,000,000 for the Moder-Tsarevets road connection. The final line was amended by a separate decree in December 2010.

A contemporary review of draft municipal budgets reports that Plovdiv's 2010 framework was BGN 227.24M, BGN 12.3M above reported execution at the end of 2009 against a planned BGN 260M. BGN 41.03M was planned for capital construction, major repair and maintenance of infrastructure, buildings and the green system, including an expected BGN 11,464,251 from the Sofia-waste compensation and BGN 15,813,720 for the street network.

Council of Ministers Decree 289 from 7 December 2010 amended Decree 138 by replacing the Moder-Tsarevets underpass road-connection line with major repair, reconstruction and conversion of the existing Plovdiv City House of Culture building. The affected line in the original decree was BGN 2,000,000.

The follow-up review for the 2006-2008 financial-management audit notes that, with Decision 49 from 25 February 2010, the Municipal Council adopted the 2010 annual programme for management and disposal of municipal property. A property-status report as of 31.12.2009 was also submitted; of 18 recommendations, 7 were implemented, 6 partly implemented and 5 not implemented.

The rule adopted with Decision 261 on 8 July 2010 set municipal-budget support for young Plovdiv talents. Measures included one-off support for courses, competitions, olympiads and contests, usually from BGN 100 to BGN 1,000 at the commission's discretion.

Plovdiv Municipality reported that the Council of Ministers approved BGN 8,488,887 for the municipal budget for infrastructure works linked to accepting and landfilling 100,000 tonnes of baled non-hazardous waste from Sofia Municipality. With this transfer, the total amount granted for 2009-2012 reached the agreed BGN 26.5M.

Council of Ministers Decree 307 from 30 November 2012 approved up to BGN 8,488,887 for infrastructure works implementing the 7 October 2009 decision. The annex lists works including the Maritsa South Boulevard extension, pavements, street lighting, a Maritsa river bridge with junctions, Northern Boulevard, Asenovgradsko Shose widening, design for Tsarevets Street, Komatevsko Shose, Ruski Boulevard, the central and old-town areas, the Odeon project, Blue Zone equipment, the Water Palace breakthrough, kindergartens, bicycle lanes, the south-eastern bypass and the Small Basilica.

The 2014 budget decision approved BGN 450,000 for Plovdiv preparation to apply for European Capital of Culture.

The 2018 budget decision approved BGN 8,997,840 targeted to implement the European Capital of Culture 2019 project.

The European Commission announced Plovdiv and Matera as European Capitals of Culture in 2019; the official Plovdiv 2019 site notes Plovdiv was the first Bulgarian city to hold the title.