40% of all accidents are caused by incorrect perception of road conditions by drivers. This was stated by the Institute for Road Safety (IPB) in its statement sent to the media. According to their analysis, in 3 years, RIA has spent over 2.5 billion leva on road repair and maintenance
According to IPB, the main reason for the incorrect perception among drivers is the lack or incorrect organization of traffic, bumps on the road surface, insufficient grip between tires and asphalt, etc.
"The head of RIA claims that the roads were not maintained because no contracts were concluded for this activity. The IPB reviewed and analyzed official budget data on spending. In the period 2022-2023, the RIA spent a record 1.7 billion leva on current repairs and maintenance. For comparison, in the period 2019-2020, the agency spent about 184 million leva on the same activity. Last year, 750 million leva were spent out of the planned 1.7 billion leva, the IPB wrote in its statement.
The institute notes that in three years, 2.5 billion leva were spent on current repairs and maintenance, which is an increase of nearly ten times, without any improvement in the road infrastructure.
"The Chairman of the Board of Directors of RIA Eng. Yordan Valchev has been in the management of the agency since November 2023. The question arises as to how the institution entrusted to him spent nearly 1 billion leva without having any contracts? Moreover, RIA stubbornly continues to work in a fog, not publishing its monthly financial reports," commented the IPB.
Here are the conclusions reached by the IPB:
- The RIA administration is incompetent to manage resources for road maintenance and repair;
- There is corruption in RIA;
- A combination of both - incompetence and corruption.
"It is not possible for a single civil servant to be involved in corruption worth billions of levs without being patronized by POLITICIANS. An IPB check shows that during the entire period 2019-2025, 7 RIA management boards and almost no director of a directorate in RIA were replaced. Therefore, politicians believe that the RIA employees are competent," the institute writes.
"Is corruption killing us on Bulgaria's roads?", the IPB asks. And they add: "Now protests are being organized against road killers, but they were not POLITICAL. What are they then and against whom are they protesting? Against the state. And isn't the state represented by the politicians we elect? It is not clear how with a prayer service in front of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral we will change the system."
According to the institute, another attempt is being made to deceive and exploit angry citizens.
"Overnight, the mothers who lost children on the roads changed their minds - from resignation to gratitude. What happened that night - only they know. The aim is to hide the names of the real culprits for the state of road safety. No citizen gets into a car to cause accidents and kill," they comment.
"Now the acting Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and his government have the opportunity to completely change the road management system in Bulgaria and create mechanisms for transparent and effective spending of resources for road repair and maintenance. Otherwise, he will go down in history as Mr. 20%," they say from the IPB.