I have no concerns about my actions related to the construction of the Hemus Motorway (AM) and all my activities as head of the Regional Directorate for National and Construction Control (RDNCC) in Lovech. I made the decision to leave with the appointment of architect Shishkov as Minister of Regional Development and Public Works. This was told to BTA in the right of reply by arch. Daniela Zlatanova, Director of the Directorate for National Construction Control - Lovech, on the statement of Minister Ivan Shishkov earlier today, related to her resignation.
“In connection with the irresponsible and ridiculous statement made today by Minister Shishkov regarding the reasons for my application for termination of my employment, it is necessary to clarify, since by not taking a position on what he said, the society remains completely mistaken. I was not surprised by his initial actions and approach, since this was expected and predictable. After the immediate replacement of the Head of the Directorate for National Construction Control, Eng. Lilyana Petrova, it became clear that they are starting with revenge and blind cleansing. No one is interested in the expert capabilities of a given person. The goal is to talk about how everything was illegal and now it will change“, said arch. Zlatanova.
According to her, attempts to search for illegal construction to date are absolutely groundless and pointless. “With a construction permit in force, unappealed and uncontested by anyone, what is the purpose of now returning to previous actions? But if we have to do it, I want to ask Arch. Shishkov what position he held in 2021, when illegal construction on lot 4 and lot 5 was found? Who was the head of the DNSK at that time and why did not a procedure for removal be initiated for lot 4 but only for lot 5 and instead a bill to amend the law is being introduced, as an attempt to declare the highway a tolerable construction. Why then was this attempt made to cover up illegal construction?“, asks Arch. Zlatanova.
She recalled that last year, based on a letter from the then regional minister Ivan Ivanov, the head of the DNSK issued an order to conduct an on-site and documentary inspection of the Hemus highway site in a section at the end of the Pleven subdivision - from kilometer 139 to kilometer 152.
„A working group of 15 members has been appointed, most of whom have been dismissed to date. The task is to establish whether there are any documents drawn up on this date (August 28, 2025) regarding established illegal construction, to verify the available documentation on the case, and to draw up a protocol of the inspection. The findings of this inspection also describe the court's reasons for overturning the five punitive decrees, the main reason being the fact that it has not been established in an indisputable manner that the construction works in question were completed at all. The date, period and place of completion are not specified. It was then indisputably established that on-site inspections of this construction were not carried out. During this inspection, the route of a temporary road was checked, which was built to service lot 3 and is a connection between the asphalt base and the concrete base, which are at the end of lot 4. This temporary road, which arch. Shishkov does not want to talk about, coincides with the route of the motorway. The facilities that are on this route, which is mostly overgrown with shrub vegetation and is passed along bypass agricultural roads, cannot in any way be individualized as part of a motorway facility. These are underpasses and overpasses for the passage of agricultural machinery and have nothing to do with the route of the new highway. When the construction of lot 4.2 began, initially and then 4.1, RZNSK-Lovech carried out regular inspections until the last minute and monitored all activities carried out to date. I can defend everything written in this protocol. I stand behind my words, behind what was written, so accusations of avoiding responsibility, of covering up something that does not exist, are absolutely unfounded“, said arch. Daniela Zlatanova.
According to her, the reason for her resignation is complex. “The previous management of DNSK was perfect for me, we worked in an absolutely calm environment at an expert level. With these indications that began under the new leadership of the ministry, it became clear that this would not continue. I am an architect and a lawyer and an arch. Shishkov has no idea, nor does he know my name, nor does he have any idea of my work to make such statements arbitrarily. I personally do not want to work and communicate with such people“, said arch. Zlatanova.