According to local media reports, a political wrangle over the financial state of the Bulgarian capital's principal electricity supplier is threatening to cut power off to end users in the city.
The Sofia Heating Utility, or Toplofikatsia, supplies some 4,500MW of power across Bulgaria, according to a report from the Bulgarian Business Journal. However the company is facing financial difficulties after its profits slumped by 50% for the year to July on the back of an accounting scandal that involved money allegedly being siphoned off by management.
Now energy minister Ruman Ovcharov wants to declare the company insolvent if the mayor of Sofia, Boyko Borissov, does not agree to a restructuring of the firm, the report adds. This could lead to power supplies to Sofia being interrupted.
The company is jointly owned by the Sofia city authority and the Bulgarian energy ministry, but it has been engulfed by scandal since its CEO was arrested on tax fraud charges, prompting a probe into its accounting methods.