The Road Infrastructure Agency has obligations exceeding €700 million under contracts from 2024 and 2025. This was announced by Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Ivan Shishkov after a meeting with mayors and representatives of local authorities in Pazardzhik.
The funds for road repairs and maintenance in 2026 are almost exhausted. According to Shishkov, the accumulated obligations have limited the agency’s ability to commission new activities on the national road network.
“2026 was an extremely difficult year because we were almost unable to commission new routine repair and maintenance activities,” Ivan Shishkov said.The minister said that the obligations had been identified by the Bulgarian National Audit Office. Routine repair and maintenance refers to the ongoing repair and maintenance of roads.
Audit reports adjustments of over BGN 1.5 billion
An audit report by the Bulgarian National Audit Office covering the period from January 1, 2020, to May 31, 2026, points to accounting adjustments of approximately BGN 1.5 billion during the review of the annual financial report of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works for 2025.
The amount includes 1,017 unapproved certificates for activities already carried out under routine repair and maintenance contracts, worth nearly BGN 1.2 billion. In addition, unaccounted-for indexation under construction contracts amounting to BGN 312.5 million and nearly BGN 6.2 million in interest on overdue payments were reported.
The Bulgarian National Audit Office уточнява, че счетоводните корекции не създават нови задължения за държавния бюджет. Те отразяват вече възникнали разходи и финансови ангажименти, включително за дейности от предходни отчетни периоди.
The 2027 budget will not cover everything necessary
Shishkov acknowledged that the funds earmarked for road infrastructure in the 2027 budget would not be sufficient for all the activities required. Nevertheless, he expects the condition of the national road network to improve significantly by the end of 2027.
The minister did not specify the exact amount of additional funding needed to cover all obligations and carry out new repairs. What has been confirmed so far is that the limited funds for the current year and accumulated payments from previous periods are reducing the opportunities to commission new activities.
Sources: bntnews.bg, actualno.com