/ world today news/ The official Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Minister of Regional Development and Investment Planning, Ekaterina Zaharieva, promoted lobbying interests related to the European funds for roads that Bulgaria will receive in the 2014-2020 program period.
On Thursday, using the cover of the so-called “Public Council” to the two ministries she leads, Zaharieva rearranged the priorities under the Operational Program “Transport and Transport Infrastructure” 2014-2020, even opening the topic of the construction method of Lot 3 of the Struma highway. Lobbying interests of key party factors in GERB and road construction companies close to them are openly visible behind the actions of the official minister.
By 2020, Bulgaria should receive 1.604 billion euros from European funds for the construction of roads and railway infrastructure. Because of the beneficial effect on the environment, the European Commission requires half of the money to be invested in a railway network. So it turns out that between 750-800 million euros were agreed upon for highways in 2012 by the then Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and by the Minister for European Funds of GERB Tomislav Donchev. Of these, about 500 million euros should be set aside for the construction of the 15-kilometer tunnel, part of Lot 3 of the “Struma” highway, which should ensure the passage through the Kresna Gorge.
Lobbying I: “European money, our builders”
In the spring, however, the largest Bulgarian construction companies, through their lobbyists, launched a campaign to change the model according to which Lot 3 of AM “Struma” will be built. The Chamber of Builders, the Association “Bulgarian Industry Association for Road Safety”, the Bulgarian Industry Chamber “Roads”, the Association of Road Engineers and Consultants, the Association “Bulgarian Association for Intelligent Transport Systems” and the University of Architecture, Construction and Geodesy announced the expansion of the existing road through the Kresnen gorge, which is an alternative to the tunnel. This option includes a series of small tunnels, viaducts, and in places the route has to climb to a height of several hundred meters, i.e. the value will not be much below the indicative price for the 15 km tunnel. Even the former security adviser of Boyko Borisov in the Council of Ministers – Rumen Milanov – appeared as the “spokesman” of the lobbyists for the alternative route. Milanov, who was the former head of several offices in the Ministry of the Interior, the National Security Service and BORKOR, for two years, is again in the management of one of the large construction companies in our country. Representatives of the industry and non-governmental organizations lobbying against the tunnel are part of the so-called “Public Council” at MRR. From the statement of regional minister Zaharieva, made at the meeting of the Public Council in question, it is clear that she is not convinced of the need to build a tunnel under the Kresna Gorge.
The promotion of lobbying interests by Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva will definitely not be accepted unequivocally by the European Commission. Already two years ago, the General Directorate “Environment” of the EC expressed an opinion to the Bulgarian authorities that the construction of the tunnel should be considered as a priority. In early 2013, the Commission even approved an application form for the section, explicitly stating that money would be released if the highway passed through a tunnel. Brussels supports the position of eco-organizations, according to which the construction of an alternative road by widening the existing one will prove harmful to the environment.
The real reason that the native construction industry is lobbying for the passage through the Kresna Gorge to go according to their plans is related to the lack of capacity and experience of the Bulgarian road construction companies in the construction of tunnels, which at least five large European companies have. This is recognized by representatives of the sector. It seems that Ekaterina Zaharieva, who is the head of the president’s office, and when Rosen Plevneliev was a regional minister from GERB and his deputy, is actively trying to satisfy the interests of the construction industry at the expense of their European colleagues. This misunderstood model – “European money, our builders” is one of the main reasons why Brussels continues to distrust the Bulgarian state administration and political elite. One thing is certain, regardless of lobbying efforts, neither Plevneliev, nor Zaharieva, nor the next government would risk the construction of Lot 3 of AM “Struma”. The reason – if the highway (with or without a tunnel) is not ready by the end of 2022, Bulgaria will have to return all the money that the EU has invested in its construction.
Lobbying II: “Oh Shipka”
In the absence of Transport Minister Nikolina Angelkova, whose department manages the European funds under OP “Transport and Transport Infrastructure”, Ekaterina Zaharieva announced the construction of the tunnel under Shipka as a priority. The project receives support at the expense of the key road section Sofia – Kalotina and the completion of the Southern arc of the Sofia ring road, which would be financed, but through loans. This will undoubtedly delay the implementation of the projects. For years, the former minister for European funds of GERB and current MP Tomislav Donchev has been actively lobbying for the construction of the tunnel under Shipka. The project is key to the development of Gabrovo, where Donchev’s political career actually began.
Lobbying III: “To prove the unprovable…”
As expected, the acting Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva also cut Northwestern Bulgaria from European funds for roads. It turned out that, according to the regional minister, the Botevgrad-Vidin expressway, part of an international corridor connecting the Hemus highway with the Danube Bridge 2, should also be built through a loan, which will delay the construction of the route and, in practice, leave the development of the northwest in the background at the expense of Northeastern Bulgaria this time. The reason – the European funds that will remain from Lot 3 of the “Struma” highway were supposed to go to the “Hemus” highway. The entire pre-election program of the former regional minister Liliana Pavlova, who is the leader of the GERB list in Varna, is based on the priority construction of the “Hemus” highway. However, at the meeting of the Public Council, Ekaterina Zaharieva did not want to admit that the construction of the entire “Hemus” highway with European funds is difficult to defend in front of Brussels. The section between Veliko Tarnovo and Varna is not considered as a European transport corridor, as is the requirement for the allocation of money from European taxpayers. Separately, the traffic that takes place between Veliko Tarnovo and Shumen is about three times lower than that required for financing under the OP “Transport and Transport Infrastructure”. In addition, as it has already become clear, the funds for roads for the period 2014-2020 are extremely insufficient to cover the construction of the entire “Hemus” motorway. Thus, the options for its construction again come down to taking out a multi-million euro loan or increasing co-financing from the Bulgarian side. Zaharieva and Angelkova have already started lobbying for this.
Lobbying IV: “Ideas for Business/Personal Use”
Along with pushing lobbying interests and rearranging priorities in road construction, the acting deputy prime minister announced that a loan of at least 800 million euros will be drawn for highway roads in the next six years. With this confession, in fact, Ekaterina Zaharieva inadvertently revealed that Boyko Borisov’s statements about how if GERB manages the roads, they will be built with European funds, do not correspond to the truth. However, Zaharieva failed to explain how this nearly 1 billion euro loan for new asphalt will be paid by taxpayers. The Acting Minister of Transport is expected to do this today or in the remaining few weeks of her administration. Right at the beginning of her short term, Angelkova hastened to announce that Bulgaria will soon introduce the system of tolls. With an uncertain future, another of the ideas of the first woman transport minister is to divert part of the funds for railway infrastructure by 2020 to road construction as well. A few days ago, Angelkova, whose father owns construction companies, also announced an increase to 50% of co-financing by Bulgaria for road projects. In fact, the chances of Angelkova’s controversial ideas being implemented are not high, at least because of the recent end of the caretaker government’s mandate.
Analysis of the BGNES Agency
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