Former Head of the Traffic Police - Sofia Tencho Tenev exposed brutal corruption schemes in the Ministry of Interior system and shed light on the real reasons for the traffic chaos on the country's highways. In a television interview, the road safety expert revealed that a senior law enforcement officer deliberately destroyed a huge number of speeding tapes, and instead of punishment, he received a career promotion.
According to Tenev, corruption in the ranks of the Traffic Police has reached frightening proportions. The expert gave a specific example from his time in a leadership position, when a disciplinary investigation found an unprecedented cover-up of violators.
"A high-level chief in the Main Directorate had destroyed over 1,500 speeding videos", said Tencho Tenev. However, instead of dismissal, the next acting Minister of Internal Affairs terminated the disciplinary proceedings against the person in question. The officer was subsequently appointed to key positions, including as deputy head of the "Traffic Police" department in the Main Directorate of the "National Police".
Another vicious practice highlighted by the former head of the Traffic Police concerns the trade in special license plates with identical numbers. According to him, for months the registration of such "nice" license plates in the capital were deliberately blocked.
Around 50 sets of specialized plates, whose value for the state budget amounted to nearly 100,000 leva, were kept in storage for no clear reason. Only at the end of the mandate of the previous regular government, were these plates taken out and sold in just two days. "This smells like very big corruption to me. Nobody checked", Tenev is categorical, hinting at a large-scale black market, in which the real price jumps twice.
The expert also commented on the recent incident in which a heavy truck blocked the key tunnel on the "Hemus" highway, causing 25-kilometer queues of disgruntled drivers. According to him, this is not an accidental damage, but pure sabotage against travelers.
"This is intentional parking of the car inside the tunnel in order to create such a conflict", explained Tenev. The reason is rooted in a serious conflict of interest between the state and a certain road maintenance company, which has been provided millions of leva by taxpayers to tow away damaged cars. This monopolization of the market has caused a revolt among the other smaller companies in the industry, which support their families with this activity.
Tenev's thesis of intentional actions is fully confirmed by independent inspections by law enforcement agencies. Current data from the Ministry of Interior to date indicate that an investigative experiment and technical expertise have proven the absolute serviceability of the blocking truck, rejecting the version of technical failure.
In connection with the complicated economic situation, the road expert predicts a drastic increase in the cost of training for new drivers. Due to rising fuel prices, driving courses for the most popular category "B" will increase by between 100 and 150 euros. Thus, the final price of the training is expected to reach an impressive 1,300 euros, which will seriously burden young candidate drivers.