"Progressive Bulgaria", GERB and MRF did not want a hearing of the Minister of Interior Ivan Demerdzhiev to be held, said Petar Petrov from "Vazrazhdane" on the sidelines of parliament, quoted by BTA.
He added that the formation had proposed a hearing of the Minister of Interior in two directions - in connection with the audit of the Road Safety Fund by the Court of Auditors and with the 26 recommendations for improving road safety. We wanted him to answer whether he would continue to manage the Traffic Safety Fund in a non-transparent and ineffective manner, as it has been managed in the last few years, including in the last government of GERB and DPS, Petrov said.
Back in January last year, we asked the then Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov what was happening with the over half a billion leva accumulated in the Traffic Safety Fund, Petrov said. Then, from the podium, he tried to convince us that this question should have been asked to the Minister of Internal Affairs and answered us that in fact the money would be spent on new toxicochemical laboratories and equipment in the districts of Burgas, Varna, Pleven, Smolyan and Ruse, Petrov added.
According to him, the non-transparent management of the Traffic Safety Fund will continue. At least I asked Ivan Demerdzhiev how he would spend the funds from now on. I hope he will come to the parliamentary control on Friday and respond, Petrov also said.
BTA recalls that on Monday the Court of Auditors published an audit report, which states that Bulgaria is among the leaders in road casualties, but the measures taken to reduce road injuries are insufficient and inadequate. The report also noted that over half a billion leva to improve road safety have accumulated in the specialized fund, but a huge part of the funds remain unspent due to administrative and organizational weaknesses in the Ministry of Interior, which manages the fund.
The Court of Auditors' report follows an audit on the topic: “Effectiveness of control carried out by the bodies of the Ministry of Interior and the contribution of the Road Safety Fund to increasing road safety“. The audit covers the period from January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021.