“No building permits have been issued for lots 4 to 9 of Hemus motorway,” Atanas Ilkov, Deputy Director of the General Directorate National Police said in a comment on the inspection of the construction of Hemus motorway which is underway. No expropriation procedures have been started for the entire length of the motorway, nevertheless enormous sums of money have been transferred to the contracting companies as advance payment – 77 million Leva (around 35 million euro) for lots 4, 5 and 6.

On her part Violeta Komitova, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works commented that there was no urgent need to hand out one billion Leva (around 500 million euro) last year. “The previous government knew there was no building permit for lots 4 to 9 of the motorway,” she added.

Meanwhile teams from the National Revenue Agency and the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior raided the building of the Road Infrastructure Agency building this morning, according to BNR sources, with the aim of seizing documents and checking computer configurations.

The actions of the Ministry of Interior and the National Revenue Agency are probably linked with the ongoing inspection of the construction of Hemus motorway. Officers of the General Directorate National Police already flew a drone over a 50-kilometer section of Hemus. The law-enforcement authorities aim to trace the absorption of the money earmarked for the construction of the motorway.