Bulgaria’s crisis-hit construction sector fears that many EU-funded infrastructure projects will be mothballed as the general election approaches and EU aid remains blocked over corruption concerns.
“The government must urgently seek ways to unblock the [EU] money so that the big infrastructure projects can get off the ground as soon as possible,” said Nikolay Mihaylov, chairman of the transport section of the construction industry association.
“Companies are nervous. The crisis has left 75 percent of them without work and these projects are now a matter of survival for a sector that used to be a major driver of economic growth,” said Veliko Zhelev, executive director of the road construction industry association.
Both Mihaylov and Zhelev were pessimistic, however, about getting any big projects started by the end of this year.
“Don’t forget the election is coming. If the EU money isn’t unblocked, tenders aren’t called and contracts aren’t signed before the election campaign starts, things will stall until the next government is office,” Zhelev said.
“Then winter will be upon us and the sector will be in big trouble,” he said.
Bulgaria’s outgoing government, strapped for infrastructure cash, had been counting on EU money to finance major and most costly road building projects, including the country’s first border-to-border Trakia highway.
Poor road maintenance, patchy repair and only occasional new building since the fall of communism in 1989 has left two-thirds of the country’s 19,425km of roads in serious need of repair, data by the national road agency showed
For a country that wants to become a major tourist destination and a center of foreign investment, Bulgaria has only 418km of motorway, with none of the five planned EU corridors yet completed.
Until the global economic crisis caused the property market to go bust, building companies had been flourishing thanks to a boom in resort and holiday home construction.
Regular building companies were lured into the road construction business by the promise of EU money once Bulgaria joined the bloc in 2007.
“Road companies reinvested profits to develop capacity, hire more qualified workers and buy heavy equipment in order to be ready to undertake major projects,” said Mihaylov, who also heads one of Bulgaria’s biggest construction companies, Trace Group Hold.
But “the big EU bucks” stalled last year amid concerns over corruption and conflicts of interest.
At the national road agency, which was to be the main beneficiary of the programs, work was virtually frozen by a series of scandals and management changes.
In addition, the agency canceled the results of tenders for two major and dozens of smaller road stretches in a bid to clean its record with Brussels.
That meant the winning companies, some of which had already started on the projects, were left high and dry and in doubt as to whether they would ever be compensated. The workers of one of the companies staged a series of road blockades this week to demand their pay.
Brussels still has to issue a report on progress at the road agency. None of the government or company officials were willing to predict when EU money will be unblocked and new tenders called.
“Companies need clarity — set deadlines and a plan. Billions of much-needed money is at stake here,” Mihaylov said.
At a recent congress in Sofia, construction industry association chief Simeon Peshov begged a top EU official to “unfreeze the money so that the major tenders can go ahead.”
Bulgaria “needs help now, not after the elections,” he said.
But the EU’s regional development chief, Carsten Ramussen, was unbending.
“Bulgaria has to some extent got off on the wrong foot and won a rather bad image in a short period. If there is something I cannot promise you, it is to leave the road agency alone,” he said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from