site.btaRoad Infrastructure Agency Financial State Extremely Worrying, Regional Minister Says
Caretaker Regional Development and Public Works Minister Nikolay Naydenov said on Wednesday that he had ordered an analysis of the financial condition of the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA), the results of which are "extremely worrying" and raise suspicions of irregularities. He made the statement at a briefing after a meeting of the caretaker Cabinet.
According to Naydenov, internal inspectorates have carried out checks on public procurement procedures and contracts, identifying violations in several areas. The caretaker minister cited as an example a public procurement procedure for crash barriers, worth more than EUR 590 million for a five-year period. The inspectorate’s report has already been completed and has identified numerous irregularities, and it will be forwarded to the Ministry of Interior, Naydenov said.
Serious problems have also been identified in contracts for current road repair and maintenance. Their total value initially amounted to about EUR 2.26 billion, planned for a period of four years, but by February 19, 2026 almost the entire resource had been contracted and spent in about a year and a half.
According to Naydenov, a significant portion of the funds has been directed to so-called preventive maintenance, which in practice conceals major repairs, a practice he described as "vicious" and said he intends to curb.
The agency’s budget for the next three months is EUR 200 million. The minister said these funds are extremely insufficient in light of the accumulated liabilities and demonstrate "very poor planning, requesting and spending of public resources".
Naydenov vowed that control over the awarding and implementation of repairs will be strengthened. The minister added that transparency will also be introduced, with all contracts and procurements of the Road Infrastructure Agency to be published online so that citizens can track how funds are spent and assess the quality of implementation.
He also said procedures for new public procurements for current repairs and maintenance will be accelerated, with implementation expected to begin no earlier than next spring.
Naydenov stressed that it is important to restore the RIA authority and ensure stable working conditions for the agency’s engineers and employees.
/RD, VE/
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