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Attack on highway deal
THE signing of the concession contract for the Trakia highway did not put
an end to the controversy in which the entire process has been immersed.
An interim report by Transparency International Bulgaria, released on April 10, alleged that there were widespread perceptions that the national interest had not been served in the negotiations on the award of the concession for the highway. The report also alleged that there were suspicions of large-scale fraud involving public finances, with the aim of benefitting vested interests, in the 35-year concession. The report was presented by the chairperson of the managing board of Transparency International Bulgaria, Ognyan Minchev, executive director Diana Kovacheva, Vassil Garnizov and other members of the organisation. Transparency International Bulgaria said it would forward its findings to the Prosecutor-General, the International Transparency International network, EU institutions in charge of protection of competition, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). According to the report, the publicised price of 2.7 million euro a kilometre for the construction of the highway was not accurate. �Calculations made under the ISPA programme and agreements between Bulgaria and EIB show a price of 1.2 million euro/km, with a market price of up to two million euro/km,� Garnizov said. The ratio between these two projected prices was 225 per cent to Bulgaria�s detriment and will force users of the highway to pay nearly 2.5 times higher tolls, the report said. The report said that there was a lack of transparency in the procedure for the awarding of the concession. The scheme for financing the concession will have a detrimental effect on the state budget and the national interest because, according to the report, the concessionaire will fund the concession activity with its own funds, but also with proceeds from road facilities on the territory under concession, revenues from tolls and from special use fees, among other sources. The Trakia highway concession could lead to EU sanctions because Bulgaria had awarded a concession on a facility built with European funds, more particularly soft-term loans. Government spokesperson Dimitar Tsonev responded to Transparency International Bulgaria�s allegations by saying that the authors of the report were politically and economically biased. Tsonev said that the findings in the report were not true and allegations that the concession was damaging the country�s interests and would bring losses of two billion euro, were without foundation. According to Tsonev, there was no risk of insufficient traffic on the highway and inability of the concession holder to pay back the loans. The contract for the award of a 35-year build-and-operate concession for the Trakia Highway that runs from Bulgaria�s border with Serbia to the Black Sea coast was signed on March 29 between the Bulgarian Avtomagistrala Trakia consortium and Portuguese company Costa Ferreira, on the one hand, and the Regional Development and Public Works Ministry. Tsonev said that the contract had not yet taken effect because the Competition Protection Commission, the EIB and Eurostat were yet to come out with their approval for the deal. *** sustineti [romania_eu_list] prin 1% din impozitul pe 2005 - detalii la http://www.europe.org.ro/euroatlantic_club/unulasuta.php *** Yahoo! Groups Links
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