site.btaRegional Development Minister Shishkov: Major Road Case Files Remain Inactive for Three Years

Case files on suspected road construction irregularities stalled for three years, Regional Development and Public Works Minister Ivan Shishkov said in a radio interview on Sunday.

Shishkov linked the files to advance payments for the Hemus Motorway, illegal construction on its fourth lot, the Sofia Northern Speed Tangent, the Sofia Ring Road and sections of the Trakia Motorway.

On July 30, 2026, Acting Prosecutor General Vanya Stefanova held a working meeting at the Palace of Justice with Shishkov and Justice Minister Nikolay Naydenov to discuss the projects.

The files dated from 2021 to 2023 and resulted from inspections carried out during caretaker governments in which Shishkov served as deputy minister and minister, he said. In 2021, inspectors found that more than BGN 1 billion had been paid in advance for the Hemus Motorway without any project documentation.

“That was when an investigation began into illegal construction on lot 4 of the Hemus Motorway, because it had also become clear that construction had been carried out illegally in addition to the absence of project documentation. As deputy minister, I provided the complete file, including the relevant documents prepared by the National Construction Control Directorate. There was no meaningful progress after that,” Shishkov added.

The inquiries continued into 2022 and 2023, Shishkov said.

“While developing the road infrastructure, we continued looking for the reasons behind the condition of Bulgaria’s roads and the lack of funding. We then found even more serious irregularities. The inspections included taking core samples from lots 2 and 3 of the Hemus Motorway. Those sections were built in 2016 and 2017, at the start of what appeared to be a period in which the asphalt became progressively thinner, and the samples showed that 12% to 17% of the required asphalt was missing,” Shishkov said.

“These are evident facts, which is why I said these thefts were the most obvious, because they could be measured. The missing asphalt could be measured with a ruler. We then broadened our inspections to include the Hemus Motorway section immediately beyond Sofia, where another check found that 20% to 25% of the required asphalt was missing,” Shishkov added.

Subsequent inspections of the Hemus Motorway section beyond Sofia also found a 20% to 25% asphalt shortfall, while the Sofia Northern Speed Tangent showed a discrepancy of about 33%, Shishkov said.

In March 2023, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works and the caretaker cabinet led by Prime Minister Galab Donev jointly sent the prosecution service a detailed referral setting out the inspection findings, Shishkov said.

Shishkov said the roads needed repairs. “This is now a case of someone failing to do their job as society expects. The damage is becoming very serious, so I believe we were almost obliged to ask the prosecution service to examine these files,” Shishkov added.

On July 21, 2026, Shishkov said contracts for Hemus Motorway lots 1 to 6 had been signed at the end of 2018 and later amended to allow larger advance payments. More than BGN 1 billion was paid in a single day even though only lots 1 to 3 had approved designs and project documentation. Shishkov also urged the prosecution service to complete the case concerning lot 5 and said work on lot 4 had begun before land expropriation was completed.

In October 2025, the Anti-Corruption Fund made public a draft indictment prepared in autumn 2023 over the alleged embezzlement of BGN 54 million earmarked for the Hemus Motorway. The document described advance payments allegedly channelled through road companies and shell companies before the money was withdrawn in cash, but it had not been submitted to court.