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Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has ordered the immediate termination of the company selection procedure for Lots 1 and 2 of the Hemus motorway. The government information service’s press release issued on Monday was clear. Pursuant to it, Minister Lilyana Pavlova ordered the necessary steps to be taken immediately to close the tender. The press release did not give specific reasons for the decision. The tender to build the two sections, with a total length of 60 kilometres and a cost of BGN 800 million, was won by companies that the media associate with controversial MP and media magnate Delyan Peevski and Lukoil Bulgaria, headed by Valentin Zlatev. An Italian company and a Turkish company, which had offered lower construction costs, challenged the result of the first tender before the Commission for Protection of Competition. The bids were disclosed in December last year, when it became clear that construction would cost twice the initial estimates. Lot 1 is 24 kilometres long and runs between Yablanitsa and Ugarchin. Lot 2 covers the 36-kilometre section between Ugarchin and the connection with Pleven/Lovech.
Bulgaria has officially terminated the procedure for selecting a contractor to build part of the Hemus motorway because of a lack of EU funding, according to the Ministry of Regional Development. Funding for the construction of lots 1 and 2 of the Hemus motorway cannot be secured under the Transport and Transport Infrastructure Operational Programme 2014–2020, the ministry said in a statement.
Preliminary estimates have shown that implementation of these projects can absorb all EU funding available under the operational programme.
Prime Minister Boyko Borisov had ordered cancellation of the selection process; the press office did not cite a reason for the decision to terminate the procurement procedure.
Several hours after the Ministry of Regional Development issued its statement, Borisov told journalists in Prague, Czech Republic, that he had ordered a new tender to dispel suspicions of possible corruption.
“Officially or unofficially, doubts were raised about whether the procedure was irregular. Yet it was conducted entirely lawfully. But when doubts circulate among the public about a deal that will cost BGN 800 million in public money, I will never allow even the slightest shadow of doubt to remain that I have done something wrong. That is why I closed the procedure and ordered a new tender,” Borisov added, also stating that funding would be available for the construction of two lots of the motorway section once a new tender had taken place.
Asked whether the successful companies could sue the Bulgarian government over cancellation of the tender, Borisov replied: “That is why we have no money today — officially, but we will have to start tomorrow.”
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