Bulgaria to Launch New Tender for Lots 1, 2 of Hemus Motorway

Bulgaria will launch a new tender for the construction of lots 1 and 2 of Hemus motorway, with the sections to be financed by the government budget rather than EU funds.

This was announced by Bulgarian Regional Minister Lilyana Pavlova in an interview for private NOVA TV on Tuesday.

The news comes after Prime Minister Boyko Borisov ordered the termination of the tender for the construction of the two lots on Monday.

Pavlova said that by terminating the tender, the government wanted to make clear that it is free of dependencies and is working professionally.

The regional minister said that the construction of the lots will be financed by revenues collected from the effective fight against contraband.

Pavlova added that there will be changes to the selection process of the contractors with a new public procurement procedure to be announced and the funds to be provided from the government budget.

Both the prime minister and the regional minister were firm that the current procedure was completely lawful.

Borisov said that there was need for greater transparency which will leave no doubts that the contractors had won the tender due to their closeness to certain political and business figures and circles.

The new tender will be launched once the current procedure is completely terminated.

Media reports linked the two winning contractors to controversial MP and media mogul Delyan Peevski and Valentin Zlatev, the head of Lukoil Bulgaria.

The two lots have a total length of 60 kilometres, with their estimated cost being BGN 800 M.

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