Ensuring the sustainability of annual revenues from toll fees and vignettes through the widespread introduction of automated vehicle control systems. This is envisaged in a draft amendment to the Rules of Procedure of the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA), published by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works for public consultation. The draft also provides for optimization of RIA’s organizational structure and the functional characteristics of the agency’s structural units by refining their functions. The aim is to increase the efficiency of implementing state policy in the development and management of the national road network. The adoption of new Rules of Procedure for the agency is also necessary to improve coordination between the administrative units within the agency, increase efficiency and strengthen the focus on ensuring RIA’s key functions. The need to optimize the structure and staffing levels of RIA’s administrative units, refine their functional characteristics and eliminate overlapping functions has been identified. The functions of the administrative units have been fundamentally reviewed, systematized and better defined, while their new regulatory framework corresponds to RIA’s functional competence, avoiding a number of overlaps and potential duplication of functions, interdependencies and “bottlenecks”.
The analysis of RIA’s Rules of Procedure shows that the agency’s structure is highly fragmented. Until 2025, the central administration was organized into 12 directorates – 5 general and 7 specialized. It was subsequently increased to 16 – 6 general and 10 specialized. At the same time, the functions and tasks of RIA set out in the law have not changed substantially, meaning that the increase in the number of directorates was not justified by newly assigned tasks. The new structure is proposed to include 4 directorates in the general administration and 8 in the specialized administration.
The regional road administrations will also be optimized. All 27 regional structures will be retained with their current functions, while the number of staff positions will be reduced by 89 – from 1,080 to 991.
The restructuring of the National Toll Administration (NTA) is proposed through the elimination of a total of 505 staff positions, 105 of which are vacant. A more extensive reduction is proposed in the “Control and Enforcement” department, with 470 staff positions to be cut. This is a direct result of the system’s technological and economic leap forward. Technological capabilities have completely eliminated the need to maintain hundreds of employees for manual, physical field inspections, transforming the administrative enforcement process into an effective digital model. After the reduction, the NTA’s core structure will consist of 377 staff positions, which are entirely sufficient given the scope and specifics of its activities. The proposed optimization aims to improve the quality of control and services. The shift from subjective human control to objective machine control increases collection rates and eliminates the risk of corruption. Despite the overall reduction in patrols, physical control will remain targeted at the most critical locations.
There will also be reform at the Institute for Roads and Bridges, with the possibility of partnering with organizations from the academic community – Bulgarian and foreign universities and institutes of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences – to carry out activities, participate in projects and attract foreign specialists. The idea is to develop its capacity as a center of competence, new technologies and training of personnel for the needs of RIA, design companies and construction firms.
The draft decree provides for a reduction in the total staffing level of the Road Infrastructure Agency from 2,411 to 1,798 positions, i.e. a total reduction of 613 staff positions. The increase in staff positions in some directorates will be offset by reductions in the staffing levels of other directorates, with the positions from the restructured directorates being transferred to newly established or reorganized units of the agency. The financial impact of adopting the draft act will be a 10 percent reduction in personnel costs under the budget of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (respectively, RIA).
The draft can be found on the Public Consultation Portal and on the websites of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works and the Road Infrastructure Agency.