site.btaRegional Minister Vows Tighter Oversight of Road Repair Contracts

Regional Development and Public Works Minister Ivan Shishkov presented information at a press conference Monday on signed contracts for major repairs to the Hemus Motorway, the Vidin-Botevgrad road, and the maintenance of Bulgaria's national road network.

Shishkov said that public procurement procedures for road repairs and construction projects are currently under way. He pledged that much stricter oversight would be exercised from now on.

According to the minister, one positive trend in recent years has been the increasing number of contracts signed for major road repairs, accompanied by the preparation of project documentation. He said that around 30 contracts for major road repairs have already been signed. However, he stressed that "these are not our contractors, but those we inherited". He added that the ministry had also inherited ongoing public procurement procedures at various stages of implementation. According to Shishkov, once a public procurement procedure has begun, the only practical option is to see it through to completion. Attempting to terminate such contracts would only delay repairs, lead to further deterioration of the roads and increase costs.

The minister also said that state-owned company Avtomagistrali has won three contracts for the maintenance of Bulgaria's motorways. After signing contracts with subcontractors in 2024, the company soon concluded additional agreements with further subcontractors. According to Shishkov, this appeared unusual. He noted that over the years he had submitted numerous reports to the prosecution service concerning irregularities in road construction and said he expected it to take action to establish how advance payments for road repair and construction projects was spent.