The Sofia City Prosecutor's Office assigned the State Agency "National Security" 84 separate inspections of contracts between the "Road Infrastructure" Agency, "Highways" EAD and construction companies. The inspections were ordered after the prosecutor's office received materials from SANS with data on possible crimes.
The subject of the inspections is the contract for the strengthening of 84 sites of the republican road network, affected by geodynamic processes and phenomena. It will be clarified how the contracts were concluded and implemented, what activities were carried out at the individual sites and how far their implementation has progressed.
129 contracts worth over 411 million leva are being examined
According to the materials provided by SANS, “Automagistrali“ EAD has concluded 129 contracts with external contractors for a total value of 411,666,287.96 leva excluding VAT.
The prosecutor's office will check whether the public procurement rules were circumvented when awarding the activities. It will also be established how the construction companies were selected, whether the work was subcontracted to other companies and what advance payments were made.
„The activities actually carried out on each of the sites, the stage of their implementation and the spending of the funds provided will be clarified“, the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office states.The contract was concluded in 2019
The main contract between RIA and „Automagistrali“ EAD was concluded on October 23, 2019 for the strengthening of sites on the republican road network affected by geodynamic processes and phenomena.
During the performance audit, the National Audit Office found that by the end of the audited period, none of the 84 identified sites had been finally completed. The audit also indicated that “Automagistrali“ concluded 129 contracts with 30 external parties worth 411,666,288 leva excluding VAT.
The new inspections must establish whether the reported activities correspond to the actual construction carried out, how the funds were spent and whether there is evidence of crimes. The prosecutor's office's statement does not indicate that charges have been filed as a result of these inspections.
Sources: nova.bg, bta.bg