The Sofia City Prosecutor's Office has assigned the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime to investigate the possible criminal liability of civil servants in connection with the millions allocated in advance for the construction of the Hemus motorway. The investigation will cover officials from the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works and the Road Infrastructure Agency, the state prosecution reports.
After the investigation materials were returned to the prosecutor's office at the beginning of this week, the supervising prosecutor gave immediate written instructions to the investigating police officers from the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime. They will have to investigate the role of civil servants who were directly involved in making and implementing decisions to allocate funds to construction companies.
The anti-mafia focus also includes the reasons for the large-scale advance payments made, as well as the subsequent control over the spending of public finances. The goal is to establish the full mechanism by which the money moved and to outline the exact circle of persons who should bear criminal responsibility.
The prosecutor's office indicates that the investigation lasted so long because for a significant period of time the materials on the pre-trial proceedings were not available to the investigative authorities. The reason is the judicial control over the precautionary measures imposed by the prosecutor's office.
According to official data, on June 27, 2025, the case was sent to the Sofia City Court and was returned to the investigators only in mid-December. On January 7 of this year, the materials were again submitted to the court due to a new request for the cancellation of precautionary measures. The files were finally returned to the state prosecution building only on August 24, 2026.
At present, there are already persons involved in the highway case as defendants. The investigative authorities continue their work, checking all possible versions arising from the evidence collected so far during the pre-trial proceedings.