Snowfall in the Ruse area and the forecast for low temperatures prompted the mayor of the municipality, Pencho Milkov (BSP), to declare Monday a non-school day with “care for the health and safety of students.” Meanwhile, a press release appeared on the municipality’s website stating that on Sunday, all services involved in winter cleaning were working “at full capacity.”
“Ten snowplows from Consortium Eco Rousse Group DZZD are clearing the streets in the neighborhoods, while sidewalks are being cleared manually,” the municipality wrote in a publication on Sunday. In another publication on Monday, the number of snowplows in the field had already increased to 15. “Throughout the night, 15 machines from Consortium Eco Rousse Group DZZD treated the streets in the city, and during the day, eight of them will continue to maintain the passability of the city network,” the municipality wrote this time.
“Za Istinata” decided to check which company is responsible for snow removal in Ruse and what capacity of machines it has declared it has at its disposal.
In December 2024, after winning a public tender, the Municipality of Ruse signed a 4-year contract for waste collection, public hygiene, snow removal, and winter maintenance with “Consortium Eco Ruse Group DZZD.” The consortium includes the companies Eco Clean Service EOOD, ECO RESURS-R OOD, MGP-R EOOD, and RTK OOD.
Eco Clean Services is linked to the ongoing waste crisis in Sofia. There, it is part of another consortium that applied in November 2025 to perform waste collection in zones 1 and 2 of the capital, but shortly thereafter dropped out of the race.
According to Mediapool, the documentation of the Chistota Sredets Consortium, submitted by Eco Clean Services, states that if it wins, the consortium will use the facilities of Rumen Gaitanski-Vulka’s company Wolf. Eco Clean Services has also had indirect links in the past with Novita Holding Group, which is linked to Christoforos Amanatidis – Taki, Mediapool writes.
According to the technical proposal of the Eco Ruse Group Consortium for Ruse, the consortium has a total of 30 machines for snow removal and road treatment:
8 machines with a plow, minimum plow width of 3-maximum 4 meters, and devices (digital or analog) for regulated (metered) spreading of the chemicals used;
8 machines with a blade, minimum width 2.80 meters, maximum width 3 meters, for snow removal on secondary road networks (neighborhoods), with devices (digital or analog) for controlled (metered) spreading of the chemicals used;
6 machines with a blade, with a blade width of minimum 0.9 – maximum 1.5 meters – for snow removal on sidewalks and squares, and with devices (digital or analog) for controlled (metered) spreading of the used preparations;
2 front loaders, with the option of installing a snow brush;
6 manual rotary snow blowers.
Press releases from the local administration in Ruse revealed that during the days of heavy snowfall and icing, the snow removal equipment in the field did not exceed 15 machines.
At the same time, even before the heavy snowfall, it published information on its website stating that “the company with which the Municipality of Ruse has a contract for winter maintenance is ready to treat the street network with 17 specialized machines.
“Za Istinata” sent questions to the municipal press center in an attempt to find out exactly how many machines the “Eco Rousse Group Consortium” has at its disposal, and whether, in their opinion, it was necessary to use the full declared capacity of the consortium between Saturday and Monday to ensure the health and safety not only of students but of all citizens. No response had been received by the time this article was published.
Information about the exact number of snow removal machines in Ruse is important because winter is just beginning and meteorologists expect more heavy snowfall in the coming weeks and months.
