"Highway of Shame" between Vidin and Montana is without real progress", regional minister Ivan Shishkov told journalists.
According to him, in the last two or three months, progress has been made only in coordinating the assignment for the design of the zero lot near Vidin.
"In the situation in which we left the section when our official cabinet was in charge and I was the official minister of regional development, we found it in the same situation", Shishkov pointed out, quoted by Focus.
He explained that the detailed development plan is currently being amended in order to provide local lanes and create conditions for the construction of commercial and economic zones in the region of the Vidin municipality.
"The builders can complete the section from Vidin to Ruzhintsi by the end of next year. The section between Ruzhintsi and Montana had a construction permit, and a construction site was opened at the end of 2024. However, just ten days later, construction was stopped again, Shishkov said.
He described what happened as "absolute negligence" and reluctance on the part of both the state and the builders to start work. According to him, the delay in the highway directly affects the lives of people in Northwestern Bulgaria.
"It was not by chance that I said that this highway has become the highway of shame", the minister said, adding that no real progress has been made in recent years.
Shishkov indicated that they are at the final stage of negotiations with construction companies due to legal problems related to the in-house procedures from 2020.
"The goal is to conclude agreements that will allow the companies to complete the unstarted sections within two and a half years, with the state disbursing the funds over five years. The highway between Montana and Vidin and the "Hemus" highway are included in a common package in the negotiations with the construction companies," Shishkov added.