site.btaUPDATED Cabinet Calls Off "Outrageous Public Procurements", Crash Barrier Contract for EUR 500 Mln Is Among Them

The Cabinet is calling off all "outrageous public procurements" and a crash barrier contract for some EUR 500 million is among them, Prime Minister Rumen Radev told journalists on Friday, taking an opportunity to attack his predecessors.  "We are ending all outrageous public procurements, we are ending theft. The squandering of public funds was huge. Poor planning was widespread. We are cutting all absurd spending, particularly where public money has been flowing into party coffers and the pockets of oligarchs. From now on, it should be clear that anyone carrying out construction projects will be subject to rigorous inspections to ensure the quality of the work," the Prime Minister said.

There will be a full inspection of the crash barriers on the section of Trakia Motorway where the severe crash occurred a few days ago, he said. He specified that the inspection would focus on crash barriers manufactured in 2024 during the large-scale replacement programme.

According to Radev, the problem is comprehensive and does not concern crash barriers alone but involves everyone - road users, state institutions and local authorities. The Prime Minister said inspections would be carried out on newly manufactured crash barriers and that other technical solutions, such as concrete safety barriers, would also be considered. Radev stressed that it is impossible to have police officers at every junction and on every inter-village road. "This is a long-term process and many things need to change - from education in schools and upbringing in families to all supervisory bodies, the Road Infrastructure Agency, and the proper design and construction of roads. Everyone knows the slogan that corruption kills," he said.

"That is why we are stopping all these scandalous public procurement contracts concluded without any financial backing and subsequently financed through Council of Ministers decrees with large amounts of public money," Radev said. He argued that from now on, anyone involved in construction would be subject to "draconian inspections of construction quality". "Many people in the construction sector have been pressured to return money, and the quality of the roads has suffered as a result. No one will pressure them from now on, but we will pursue them over quality," Radev said.

He noted that the Government is halting a BGN 1 billion public procurement procedure for crash barriers because the price is unrealistic and the tender will be reviewed. Radev also commented on medium-sized public procurement contracts, citing as an example a BGN 47 million contract at the National Railway Infrastructure Company for cutting tree branches. He also highlighted a contract awarded to a company that mowed three decares of land during the winter for BGN 250,000. "Wherever you look, there are hundreds of such cases," Radev commented. He announced that the 2027 budget would contain even stronger policies aimed at curbing unreasonable and long-term expenditure.

Two days earlier, on June 24, three people, including two nine-year-old boys, were killed in a severe crash on Trakia Motorway involving a lorry and a passenger car. The driver of the heavy goods vehicle lost control, crossed through the crash barriers and entered the opposite carriageway towards Burgas, colliding with a car carrying five people.

Later on Friday, Regional Development Minister Ivan Shishkov told journalists that, following the recent road accidents, he had ordered an inspection to assess the quality of the materials used in the crash barriers in the affected sections. He added that a new ordinance introducing updated crash barrier standards had been adopted in 2024, noting that the law allows a 10-year period for the replacement of existing installations.