Sofia - Traffic in Sofia plunged into chaos Tuesday as a garbage-removal company, in a dispute with city authorities, ordered its workers not to clean piles of garbage or clear fresh snow.

Sofia authorities on Monday decided to sever its contract with the private company Novera to remove garbage. While the deal was set to expire on April 1, Novera had already stopped working last Saturday, saying it was not being paid.

With garbage piling on sidewalks, the situation was further aggravated Monday when a sudden snowstorm hit the city of 2 million people. Since Novera is also in charge of cleaning snow, it was left untouched and many streets became virtually impassable.

While Mayor Boyko Borissov insisted there was no grounds for Novera to sue the city, he hinted that he was expecting a lawsuit from the company. (dpa)