Regional Development Minister Ivan Shishkov
Regional Development Minister Ivan Shishkov has accused the previous Zhelyazkov cabinet of preparing what he described as misuse of more than 1 billion leva (500 million euros) in road construction funding through changes to public procurement indexation rules introduced shortly before the government’s resignation. Speaking at a press conference, he said the revised methodology, which allowed state contracts to be adjusted for inflation, had been expanded in late 2025 to include design and consultancy work, significantly increasing its financial impact.
Shishkov claimed the total value linked to the suspended mechanism reached about 1.237 billion leva and argued that it would have enabled the re-indexation of large advance payments for projects dating back to 2018 and 2019, including sections of the Hemus highway and other major infrastructure schemes, even in cases where construction had not yet started. “This is government robbery by a former government,” he said, adding that the state had halted what he described as an attempt to revalue previously paid advances.
He further said that companies would now be required to complete ongoing projects within existing financial limits, while priority infrastructure such as key highways and tunnels would continue under revised planning. Shishkov also pointed to plans for public-private partnerships to attract investment in major transport projects, including the Rila highway, Petrokhan tunnel, and Black Sea corridor.
