Major Landslide Has Cut off a 300-Metre Section of Pamporovo–Smolyan Road, Restoring It Likely to Take at Least Six Months

The landslide in Smolyan district (Southern Bulgaria) had not been officially registered, the caretaker Minister of Regional Development said on May 4. Restoring the road will take at least six months in the most optimistic scenario, while a more realistic estimate suggests up to two years.

The landslide has not been formally recorded and is not included in the Geoprotection register.

Nikolay Naydenov, caretaker Minister of Regional Development: “There was no monitoring programme for its observation, nothing was done – this is not negligence or an oversight, it is simply a long process.”

The most likely cause of the landslide’s activation is soil saturation due to excessive moisture.

Photo by Dessislava Kulelieva

Nikolay Naydenov,, caretaker Minister of Regional Development: “This oversaturation will still need to be studied to determine whether it comes from snowmelt or from above-average annual rainfall, whether it is due to seepage from a higher reservoir – groundwater infiltration – or whether it is something else.”

A major landslide has cut off a 300-metre section of the Pamporovo–Smolyan road.

Restoration of the road is expected to take years. Until then, alternative routes will be used, provided they do not also become affected by landslides.

Eng. Todor Anastasov, Chairman of the Management Board of the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA): “At the moment, everything possible is being done to reinforce them so that they can handle the necessary traffic until a solution to the problem is reached. Yes, there are issues on the diversion routes – as the minister said, this is the nature of the region.”

The Ministry of Regional Development today published public data on all contracts related to the repair, maintenance and construction of roads.

The data shows that in 2019 the Road Infrastructure Agency and “Avtomagistrali” EAD signed a contract worth nearly BGN 570 million for landslide stabilisation works. Half of the funds were paid in advance. Seven years later, the outcome is as follows.

Nikolay Naydenov,, caretaker Minister of Regional Development: “Of the 88 sites covered by this assignment, 33 are under implementation, 53 have not been started at all, and only three have been completed.”

An interactive map now also shows the condition of the road network.

Mihail Mihaylov, adviser to the Management Board of the Road Infrastructure Agency: “Blagoevgrad, Silistra and Pazardzhik are in the best overall condition in terms of road quality based on these measurements, while Burgas, Montana and Vidin are the worst.”

Meanwhile, after the state allocated BGN 10 million for reconstruction of sections along the Giro d’Italia route, the European Centre for Transport Policies has raised concerns over poor-quality repairs on the road near Dolna Banya.

Nikolay Naydenov, caretaker Minister of Regional Development: “We will pull the contractor’s ears for this. This is extremely unpleasant for all of us – it really makes us look bad in front of foreign visitors, and that is also true.”

The relevant institutions have pledged that the irregularities will be corrected before the start of the race.

Nikolay Naydenov, caretaker Minister of Regional Development: “Naturally or not, the contracts in the Road Infrastructure Agency were poorly organised – scattered and unsystematised.”

Yordan Terziev, adviser to the political cabinet: “Because it turned out that there is no single road dossier for any given road section.”

Nikolay Naydenov, caretaker Minister of Regional Development: “For the first time, the "light has been switched on" at the Road Infrastructure Agency. There is now full transparency of processes, and those processes go through contracts – meaning all funds that have been spent so far and will be spent in future are now visible.”