The National Assembly heard the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Ivan Ivanov regarding the issued construction permit for part of lot 4 of the “Hemus“ highway.
According to Ivanov, no illegal construction has been established on the “Hemus“ highway.
The hearing is in connection with the construction permit No. 6 of February 4, 2025 issued by the Minister for part of lot 4 of the “Hemus“ highway. from the end of the Pleven junction (intersection with road II-35) to road III-301, including the Letnitsa junction from km 139+340=137+911.52 to km 167+572=166+144.09, in the part of the sub-project: "Hemus" motorway from km 152+500 to km 167+572=166+144.09). The motion for a hearing was submitted by Violeta Komitova from the "Moral, Unity, Honor" (MECH) parliamentary group.
"According to the practice of the DNSK and the documents that I have established, neither for this section nor for any other of the "Hemus" motorway no illegal construction has been found, according to the Urban Planning Act, and no act of finding has been issued for such construction and for its suspension, neither during the caretaker government nor during the regular cabinets, the minister said.
He announced that at present, two construction permits have been issued for section 4 of the "Hemus" highway - the first is on December 16, 2024 and is for engineering networks - reconstructions of a gas transmission pipeline, 20 kilovolt power lines and an irrigation pipeline. The second is the construction permit from February 4, 2025 for the construction of kilometer 152 + 500 to kilometer 167 + 572 with a length of 15.072 km, part of lot 4 of the highway - from the "Drenov" road junction to the village of Doyrentsi to the road junction "Letnitsa", as the contracting authority of the site is the "Road Infrastructure" Agency, and the contractor is "Highways" EAD.
All development approval procedures were followed for the issuance of the construction permit, the minister said. With the construction permit for this 15-kilometer section of the road, about 5 kilometers of the humus layer was removed, and nothing was done on the remaining 10 km. No construction structures and road facilities were built in the section, and a construction permit is not required for the removal of the humus layer, and for this reason it cannot be classified as illegal construction, the minister said. For the section since 2021, no administrative proceedings have been initiated and, accordingly, no orders have been issued to stop and/or remove illegal construction within the meaning of the Spatial Planning Act, Ivanov added.
The Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Ivan Ivanov signed a construction permit for nearly 14 new kilometers of the "Hemus" highway in early February.
Violeta Komitova (former regional minister - author's note) recalled this week that in 2021, the Directorate for National Construction Control conducted a drone inspection of lots 4 and 5 and found that there were sections with illegal construction. "If Minister Ivanov has allowed himself to issue a construction permit on a section with illegal construction, I perceive it as an amnesty for illegal construction in Bulgaria", Violeta Komitova said at the time.
Regarding the "Hemus" highway, Minister Ivanov said at the end of last week that most of the lots planned for construction are at an advanced stage in terms of issuing documents. This year, the first lot from Boaza to the "Letnitsa" road junction is expected to be opened.
At the beginning of today's session of the National Assembly, Dragomir Stoynev, in a declaration on behalf of the Bulgarian Socialist Party on the occasion of the upcoming national holiday on March 3, asked his colleagues whether they would humble their minds and hearts before what was in the past. "Bulgaria's freedom comes in the battles during the Russo-Turkish War. In our land, the bones of mostly Russian soldiers and officers still lie. Let us stay away from fear and cowardice.“
"DPS-New Beginning" congratulated Muslims in Bulgaria and around the world on the arrival of the holy month of Ramadan.
„Vazrazhdane” again attacked our path to the eurozone and from the podium condemned „the large-scale criminal scheme taking place in the National Security Institute”. The hall reacted and some of the MPs walked out during the declaration.
During the time for regular parliamentary control of questions and inquiries from the MPs, ten cabinet ministers are scheduled to answer. These are Borislav Gutsanov, Krasimir Valchev, Daniel Mitov, Silvi Kirilov, Marian Bachev, Georgi Tahov, Manol Genov, Petar Dilov, Zhecho Stankov and Ivan Ivanov.