Regional Development Minister Says His Ministry Will Develop 8-year Strategy to Tackle Future of Bulgaria's Road Infrastructure

UPDATED Regional Development Minister Says His Ministry Will Develop 8-year Strategy to Tackle Future of Bulgaria's Road Infrastructure

Yoanna Vodenova

Regional Development Minister Andrey Tsekov, Aug. 3, 2023 (BTA Photo)

Sofia,

03.08.2023 11:57 | UPDATED 03.08.2023 12:04

(BTA)

Regional Development and Public Works Minister Andrey Tsekov said Thursday, that the biggest deficit in the construction and maintenance of Bulgaria's road network is that they should be done transparently and according to priorities. "The law mandates that an eight-year strategy be developed and adopted by the Council of Ministers. The strategy must be based on the current state of the roads and we will create an eight-year strategy on which public money will be spent on road repairs and construction," he noted.

Tsekov clarified that a road strategy was created in 2015 that expired in 2022. However, the caretaker government spent public funds according to the subjective judgement of politicians, without transparency and foresight, Tsekov said, noting that "repairs were awarded without it being clear whether they were necessary."

He was adamant that a new strategy should be drawn up, an analysis of the state of the roads should be made and, with the help of the latest technology and thanks to an interactive map, the priority repairs and maintenance needs of the road infrastructure should be reflected on the map on a daily basis. "Based on the data of this interactive road map we will decide where and what will be done on Bulgaria's roads," Tsekov said.

Dormant highways and large infrastructure projects are a heavy legacy because they were awarded through the black boxes of the inhouse and the caretaker government has not taken measures to break out of this vicious circle, Tsekov said.

"I have banned the procurement of repairs and contracts through the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA). We need to identify what the legal measures are, to react to these dormant highways. There is a working group that is checking these contracts and will come up with an opinion on the subject. It is likely that legislative changes will be necessary to avoid such situations in the future," Tsekov elaborated.

According to him, the main problem facing the state is not the lack of funds, but the lack of project security and the non-transparent methods and mechanisms for awarding road repairs. He said that since the beginning of the year only BGN 244 million had been spent on procurement. "These problematic contracts have been inherited from 2020," Tsekov clarified.

Regarding the water and sewerage operators, Tsekov pointed out that most of the projects were awarded in a way that eliminated all competitors from the procedure, leaving one bid close to the highest value of the project and the point is to seek administrative and criminal liability of the persons responsible for these awards. He said that the Public Financial Inspection Agency would carry out an audit of the cost effectiveness of the water and sewerage operators.

/DD/