By decision 7289 of the 25 November 2013 the Administrative Court – Sofia City (ACSC) held that the municipal company “Chistota-Iskar” EOOD (Sole shareholder Ltd.) is an obliged subject under the APIA. “Chistota-Iskar” EOOD, handling waste collection and street cleaning, is bound to provide information as a public law organization. The case was initiated by the journalist Maria Koycheva from “Sega” newspaper who sought access to information on the company’s public procurement contracts. The request was filed with the Sofia Municipality – the sole shareholder in the company. Then it was referred to “Chistota-Iskar” EOOD itself which refused to provide the information with the argument that it does not fall in the scope of the subjects obliged under the APIA. The refusal, issued by the company’s manager, was attacked with AIP’s help.
The court found that “Chistota-Iskar” EOOD is a public law organization (within the meaning of Article 3, par. 2, item 1 in conjunction with § 1, item 4 of the Additional Provisions of the APIA) since, following the company’s statute, it performs activities in order to satisfy the general interest - collection and disposal of municipal waste in landfills or other facilities for disposal, cleaning of streets and other public areas, etc. Also, more than half of the members of the company’s management body are determined by the Sofia Municipality, which is a contracting authority within the meaning of Article 7 item 1 of the Public Procurement Act.
The court held that the requested information is public and in the current case there is an overriding public interest in its provision under § 1, item 5 of the Additional Provisions of the APIA, as it concerns the parties, subject matter and prices of contracts in which one of the parties is an obliged subject under the APIA.