Sofianites see the slow service and red tape as the worst problems of the municipal administration, according to a survey by Market Links.

The survey covered more municipalities across the country, and of these the residents of Kozloduy, Montana, Pazardjik and Panagyurishte showed the strongest awareness (90 per cent) of the procedure for obtaining municipal administrative services. In Sofia awareness was measured at 68.9 per cent. Internet emerges as the preferred source of information regarding municipal administrative services.

In Sofia, people have the strongest confidence in the Mayor and 20 per cent trust the institution he represents completely. The Municipal Council gets 13 per cent, the local police 20 per cent and the local court and the media get 7 per cent each.

On a scale of 0 to 10, from worst to best, respondents assign a score of 5.6-5.7 to the local administration's dealing with businesses and civic organizations, and the work conditions for the employees in the administration. The administration servants themselves assign a score of 7.5-7.9 to their own work with the citizens and the quality of service they provide.

According to the respondents, the Sofia administration is doing worst in the management of the municipal resources and best in preparing a long-term strategy for local development.

Only 13 per cent of respondents believe that their municipality is being run transparently and only 5 per cent describe the administration as "open to citizens".

People in Sofia believe that the most important thing is having an adequate structure for internal control on the administration and a system for reviewing petitions, complaints and alerts. The local administration in Sofia tend to agree with that. They also say that municipal servants should be appointed on a competitive basis.

The survey shows that having public debates on the municipal budget is very important for people, non-government organizations, the news media, businesses and the municipal administration itself. Making public the enforcement of the municipal council's decisions seems equally important.