site.btaHead of Road Infrastructure Agency Says He Will Resign If People Want It

The Chair of the Road Infrastructure Agency’s (RIA) Board, Yordan Valchev, talked to people protesting against the "murders" on the road in front of the Agency building in Sofia on Monday. “If you want me to, I will resign,” he said to the people who had gathered. “The point is that once I resign, nothing will change as it never has before. Things have been going on for a long time. Motorways are not being built. Many things have been delayed. They will be delayed even more,” he added.

“The Agency's reaction has always been to respond to all alerts,” Valchev said. He invited the protesting parents of children killed on the road to discuss all existing problems.

“We demand the resignation of the head of the Road Infrastructure Agency,” said Petya Ivanova, founder of the Angels on the Road association, organizer of the protest. “Had they done their job, many of the people killed would still be alive,” she added.

The protest march began in front of the Palace of Justice in Sofia, passed by the Ministry of Justice and the National Assembly building. “The bill on legal and forensic experts is ready, we are working to tighten the penalties,” Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev told the protesters earlier in the day.

"We demand to change the legislation and class homicide under the influence of alcohol, drugs, speeding or with fake a licence as intentional," Ninela Varbanova, a member of the Angels on the Road association, told BTA. Currently, all of these cases are classed as “vehicular manslaughter”, and that is why judges are giving suspended sentences in almost all cases, she explained.

The protesters carried photos of their loved ones who died in traffic accidents and posters saying "Enough! No more murders on the road!" and "Maximum sentence for drunk, drugged and impudent road killers!"

The protest march was organized a week after an accident killed a 12-year-old girl.

On April 1, the Interior Ministry's Pleven Regional Directorate reported the death of a 12-year-old girl who had been injured in a traffic accident near Pleven, North Central Bulgaria, the day before. RIA said after the accident that the road is in good condition, without any surface flaws or potholes.

The Road Infrastructure Agency is a specialized agency of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works. The Agency is responsible for the construction and maintenance of motorways, first-, second- and third-grade roads which provide important transport connections and make up the road network of Bulgaria.