site.btaGovernment Won't Adjust Prices for Road Construction Contracts under Methodology Adopted by Zhelyazkov Cabinet

Bulgaria’s Regional Development Minister Ivan Shishkov said the current government won't be paying inflation indexation for road construction contracts under a controversial methodology approved by the previous administration, arguing that the mechanism would unfairly drain public funds.

Speaking on bTV Sunday night, Shishkov described the price indexation measure as one of several "traps" left behind by former governments.

He said one of the most serious issues was the approval in December 2025 of a construction contract indexation methodology that allowed advance payments already made to contractors to be indexed for inflation. The decision was adopted shortly before the previous government resigned following public protests at the end of 2025.

"The trap is not only in the Ministry of Regional Development - it is across all sectors," Shishkov said. "This is a way for public money to be drained through a formally legal mechanism, but in my view it represents a direct loss for the state budget."

The minister said the financial implications could be enormous. He pointed to the Hemus motorway project, where around EUR 1 billion had reportedly already been paid in advance. Under the methodology, those advance payments could now also become subject to additional indexation.

"Construction firms received these advances precisely so they would not later require indexation," Shishkov argued.

He said the initiative for the methodology came from the road construction sector itself, but blamed the State for approving it. "The fault is not with the one who eats the pie, but with the one who gives it to him," he said, calling the arrangement "at the very least immoral".

Shishkov criticized the sector for receiving substantial public funding while delivering "far too few motorways" in return. However, he stressed that responsibility ultimately lies with the state institutions that enabled the system.

The minister confirmed that the government has already begun work on changing the indexation rules and has agreed internally that no payments will be made under the current methodology.

Despite the criticism, the minister called for optimism about the future of Bulgaria’s road sector, saying the government plans to redesign and complete the country’s motorway network under stricter standards.

"The sector has a huge future because we have said clearly that we will design and build all motorways," he said.

Commenting on recent flooding along a section of the Hemus Motorway, Shishkov blamed what he described as an "extremely poor technical solution" on Lot 1 of the project, which began construction in 2018 and was completed in December 2025 after years of delays and corruption allegations.

He said authorities are expected to determine responsibility for the incident in the coming days. The faulty stretch will be re-built, he added.