site.btaRegional Development Ministry Suspends BGN 4 Bln Worth of Public Procurements for Road Repairs, Awarded by Previous Cabinet

The Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works said here on Tuesday that it has suspended public procurements worth BGN 4 billion for road repairs and maintenance, signed by caretaker prime minister Galab Donev's cabinet. Regional Development Minister Andrey Tsekov ordered an audit of the tender procedures as soon as he took office.  

The reason for the audit, as Tsekov put it, were media publications and "the suspicious rushing of the procedures, which were completed shortly before and after I was sworn in as Minister [and] made me doubt the transparency of these tenders worth BGN 4 billion".

During a hearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Regional Policy, Public Works and Local Self-Government last week, Tsekov also said that the audit found that all eight public procurement tenders for new contracts for routine repairs and maintenance have restrictive criteria and requirements that created conditions for unlawful, non-transparent and inefficient spending of public funding.

The Minister, however, assured members of the Committee, who were concerned about the maintenance of the national road network, that there would be no delay in road works because the forthcoming tenders will be announced shortly. He also told them that he had formed a working group to streamline the tender procedures as much as possible.

"New rules are being prepared for the new tenders so that there will be no delay in activities. The objective is to conduct the tenders according to transparent criteria, with real competition and guarantees that the public interest is protected," the Ministry said.

He will present the new rules at a news conference at his Ministry next Tuesday, 25 July.