Road construction workers begin indefinite strike from tomorrow. July 27 (update)

Road construction workers are going on an indefinite strike from tomorrow, July 27, over unpaid funds. There will be protests every day in front of the building of Bulgaria’s Parliament and around 20 key road sections across the country. The chairman of the Board of the Branch Chamber "Roads" told BNT breakfast programme on July 26 that about 720 million BGN have not been paid to about 80 companies for works they had completed.

The chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Regional Policy, Public Works and Local Self-Government, Nastimir Ananiev, said he would call emergency meetings of the committee to seek a solution to the problem.

There was a meeting of the committee in Parliament today, but the MPs' decisions are unlikely to postpone the protests.

The committee adopted changes to the law on public procurement related to indexing prices in road construction in view of inflation. However, for these changes to take effect, they need to be passed by the lawmakers at first and second reading.

Today, the Bulgarian Branch Chamber Roads said that the current government has ruined the repair and construction of new roads in the country. Non-payment to road construction companies and unwillingness to take responsibility has led to the suspension of many important infrastructure projects. That is why strike action will begin.

For his part, Nastimir Ananiev, who is the chairman of the committee and is an MP from "We Continue the Change", said that the state will pay, but only with the road construction companies that are in good standing, while the rest are subject to checks. He urged the road companies to point out exactly what happened in the previous years, what legacy they received from GERB, and not to transfer the entire responsibility to "We Continue the Change".

The Branch Chamber Roads said that work on more than 270 sections of the republican road network had been blocked because of outstanding payments by the state to the companies. But it is not just the money owed that is the reason for the strike action, which starts tomorrow.

According to the branch workers, it is very important that in the time remaining, the Parliament cancels and extends the deadline of September 30, when the annexes to the contracts with the road construction companies expire.

If the Parliament does not change its decision of April 20 in the remaining days, on September 30 Bulgaria will end up being the only country in the EU that does not maintain its roads, Chaikov said and added that considering the current decision and the fact that there will be no new Parliament by September 30, neither can the current supplementary agreements be extended, nor can anything be awarded to anyone, as it will be physically impossible to carry out procedures and select a new contractor, he said. According to him, this will also affect the winter maintenance, which usually starts between November 1 and 15, and will also lead to interest penalties.

According to Nastimir Ananiev, about 21 percent of the road construction companies are honest and he insists that these companies get their money. However, contracts with the rest need to be verified and payment should not be made before that happens.

"The state is hostage to circumstance and should sign a blank cheque in full to the road firms. I am strongly opposed to writing such a blank cheque. But I still want to find a solution that guarantees that there will be road maintenance," Ananiev said.