site.btaPoliticians Split on Road Transport Administration's Future after Bribery Scandal

Bulgarian politicians voiced sharp criticism and diverging solutions on Wednesday following the arrest of two Road Transport Administration (RTA) employees accused of soliciting and receiving a bribe from transport operators carrying equipment for Robbie Williams’ concert in Sofia on September 28. The scandal ignited debates about corruption in the agency and how to reform state oversight bodies.

Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) said they have submitted a bill requiring all RTA employees to wear body cameras. Yes, Bulgaria (part of CC-DB’s parliamentary group) Co-Chair Ivaylo Mirchev described RTA as “one of the most corrupt institutions” and insisted that mandatory recordings would prevent cover-ups in future scandals. “The Movement for Rights and Freedoms and GERB refused to regulate the wearing of body cameras, as a result of which police officers wear them when they want to," he added. It turns out that there are no body camera recordings of the largest corruption scandals because it is not profitable for the Ministry of Interior, the MP said. "To prevent this from happening in the RTA, we have proposed a change in the law, which I hope will now be voted on, so that at the Iron Maiden concert we do not have to check again whether the system is working and how corrupt they still are,” Mirchev said.

GERB leader Boyko Borissov went further, calling for the immediate closure of the RTA, arguing that “even if you put bodycams on them, it won’t matter.” He suggested shifting responsibilities to the traffic police and toll system, and that the toll system could handle issues such as vehicle and truck overloading. “And at the end of the toll system, there should be a traffic officer to escort them to pay their fines. Otherwise, you can dress them in overalls if you like,” said Borissov.

Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning (MRF-NB) floor leader Delyan Peevski backed Borissov, saying the agency should be shut down altogether and its functions considered for transfer to the Interior Ministry. "We talked this morning. We will consider whether they [RIA] should be transferred to the Interior Ministry. But after what we saw, I think they should be closed," said the MP.

Velichie party leader Ivelin Mihaylov agreed on the need to optimize state structures, suggesting that automation such as the toll system could take over some functions. However, he claimed corruption at the RTA was “less than in other institutions”. Mihaylov reiterated that the most corruption was found in institutions linked to MRF - New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski and GERB leader Boyko Borissov.

Kiril Dobrev MP of BSP-United Left, Chair of the Parliamentary Transport and Communication Committee, proposed merging the Traffic Police, RTA, and National Toll Administration into a single road control body, noting that the current overlap between authorities was inefficient. According to Dobrev, it is unusual for a truck to be halted by three or four different authorities. "Just like we set up a single system of the municipal cameras and those of Traffic Police while the fines are issued by Traffic Police alone, we should have a sole authority in charge of road traffic control," he stressed. "I am waiting for the concept of the Council of Ministers, which will be reviewed by the Transport Committee," the MP said. Dobrev explained that this sole authority should bring together the Traffic Police, the Road Transport Administration and the National Toll Administration.

Vazrazhdane’s Nikola Dimitrov opposed shutting down the RTA but demanded sweeping restructuring across all state control agencies, which he said were widely engaged in extortion. He warned that without accountability for senior officials, body cameras alone would not eliminate corruption. "However, if there is no monitoring there either, then it will again turn out that the body camera was turned off or that the employee did not know how to turn it on, or that there was some background noise. And again, it will turn out that there is no transparency and corruption will continue," said the MP. He believes that if there are no penalties for the higher authorities, for the ministries themselves and the heads of agencies, only those purposefully appointed lower down the chain, who were simply collecting money, will be burned.