PM Radev: High-Speed Roads and Motorways that Meet High Standards of Quality and Safety Should Be Built As Soon As Possible

Prime Minister Rumen Radev, Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Peev and Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Ivan Shishkov presented a new approach to the development of Bulgaria’s transport infrastructure. The event was held in the Granite Hall of the Council of Ministers on September 15.

Representatives of professional organisations of designers, engineers and construction companies, financial institutions and associations involved in transport policy were invited to the meeting.

The aim of the presentation was to establish a dialogue between the government, business and society focused on greater predictability and transparency in the process of building and developing transport infrastructure.

Prime Minister Rumen Radev said there could be no talk of economic development without modern roads. “How do we move forward from here? That is the big question we are all asking ourselves,” he said, describing the need to develop transport infrastructure as quickly as possible as a huge challenge.

“High-speed roads and motorways that meet high standards of quality and safety should be built as soon as possible”

Following the in-depth analysis and its presentation to professional organisations, priorities must be established as to what will be built and how. The prime minister declared an end to the old model of road construction – “Forget Hemus and bags of cash ”

“It is clear that the ambitious goals we have set for ourselves cannot be achieved quickly, with high quality, and without corruption unless we begin to change the model for strategic infrastructure.”

The model for concessions will also be decided jointly, Radev added. The aim is to free up public funds for activities and sectors where the state has the leading role.

Radev said he wanted to dispel speculation that “we are going to hand the motorways over to concessionaires”.

“I want to make this very clear – where construction has already been carried out with public funds, where every Bulgarian has already paid for it, we are not talking about concessions at all. I am talking about the Trakia and Maritsa motorways. Hemus will be completed in full – that is the plan, using the national budget, not concessions. Now you may ask: But how can there be both vignettes and motorway toll charges? We have time, while we build them. A lot will become clear during that period, and we will see what the trends are at the European Commission.”

The Prime Minister stressed the critical importance of having projects ready to proceed. “We want fast and high-quality design work,” he said.

“Minister Shishkov has full carte blanche to hire staff and enter into contracts with design firms; the resources for this will be available, but we want quick results—fast, high-quality design—so that we can begin the parallel awarding of contracts for all major transport projects.”

Transport Minister Georgi Peev said Bulgaria was in an exceptionally strategic geographical position, but that making the most of it “requires strategic and long-term thinking”.

“Until now, projects have somehow remained within individual ministries and each one has worked on its own. We want, based on specific logic and criteria, to create these projects as is customary today – a pipeline or portfolio of projects that are strategic for the state – and implement them, as the example showed, with the necessary speed and quality, so that we can achieve better connectivity and stronger economic growth. We want to manage a national portfolio, prioritised according to strategic importance, specific criteria and a defined level of project readiness, because something may be very important but not yet ready to proceed. We also want to discuss financing options and, of course, the potential for public-private partnerships.”

Peev said the ambition and central message was to move from a wish list to actual projects.

Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Ivan Shishkov said the expectation was that “construction workers will return to where they belong – namely, construction sites – and that we will be able to complete the Hemus motorway in its entirety”.

“The Hemus motorway will be completed in two stages. First, as far as Veliko Tarnovo, because project documentation is ready for that section—specifically Lots 7 and 8—which will be delayed by about a year due to redesign work. So, we believe that within this timeframe, we will be able to complete the Hemus Highway in its entirety.”

“Was it easier for us before? What was happening before?” Shishkov asked, adding: “They made promises, there were no roads, and let us not forget road safety.”

Tackling these problems is a huge challenge, Shishkov said, but added: “I believe we will succeed.”