The state Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) and the Ministry of Interior have been plagued by corruption scandals for years, but a recent spate of fatalities on poorly maintained roads across the country has drawn ever greater attention to their work. Last week, two deeply problematic practices were highlighted by the Anti-corruption Fund (ACF) and Capital Weekly, respectively.
The first one has to do with road markings and the second - with the purchase of 30,000 icons (yes, as in pictures of saints) through a public tender. Both have enraged the public at a time when it has become extremely vigilant about issues linked to road safety.
Paying a commission to become a road painter
Putting up road markings is a sweet business - it doesn't require much expertise or investment. However, a company needs to have contracts with the right contracting authority. "To get the tenders set, you are asked for a certain percentage [in kickbacks], which I initially agreed to give them. Subsequently, my percentages are increased and in the event that I refuse to give them, I encounter difficulties with the administration of the RIA."
These are the words of the owner of a company who has been engaged in this work for years. Anton Taskov tells the ACF about his experience with corrupt practices in public procurement for road marking. The investigation, published last week, alleges that public money for road marking was diverted as bribes to senior civil servants and their affiliates. This was done through a hollow intermediary company in a consortium of which Taskov's company, Bitulite, was a part.
The path of a bribe
Anton Taskov is co-owner of Bitulite together with his son Alexander Tavrakliiski. It is one of the leading road marking companies in Bulgaria. The ACF investigation claims that Taskov has contracts with the RIA for marking in 2014, 2021 and 2023. Taskov claims that shortly before the most recent procedure he had been contacted by Miroslav Manolov, a former director at one of the largest road construction companies, Trace Group Hold. Manolov claimed that he would "intercede" with the RIA to give Taskov's company a district over which to be in charge.
According to Taskov, Manolov had "one way in which he negotiated things with the RIA and the responsible persons." "I was told by Miroslav Manolov that we should give him 5% [of the tender money] so that he could "stimulate" the people in charge, and 2% more would go for him," Taskov claims in the ACF video. According to the owner of Bitulite, Miroslav Manolov said that the 5% went for commissions to senior government officials, among whom he mentions the name of Nikolai Nankov. The latter was deputy minister and minister of regional development and public works in the second and third governments of Boyko Borissov until 2021. Nankov has rejected these claims.
In the end, Taskov participated in the public tender for horizontal marking through the company Belichanski Houses, part of the Bitulite Consortium 2018. Since its establishment in 2014, the company has been owned by Nelly Vassileva, with whom Manolov lives on family terms. The company has for years made an odd choice of the ACF for marking, as on paper it deals with hotel services and tourism. The Bitulite 2018 alliance in question had a contract for the marking of the Struma highway from January 2021, as well as for the roads in the South-West region - Blagoevgrad, Kyustendil, Sofia and Pernik.
According to Taskov's account, Belichanski Houses did not carry out any work, but was used as a hollow company through whose accounts 7% of the bribe was diverted, some of which was also intended for the state officials involved. ACF's legal team has analyzed documents and bank transactions, and this shows that days after RIA paid Bitulite, exactly 7% of the amount was sent to Belichansky Houses. The total amount transferred to the company's account under this contract was 1,170,000 levs.
Manolov confirmed that he received this 7%, but denied that there was corruption. He failed to specify the exact role of Belichanski Houses in the merger since the other company did everything. By contract, it was supposed to process and keep records.
In December 2023, during the government of Nikolay Denkov, Bitulite Consortium 2018 signed a new contract with RIA for road marking in the South-West region. Subsequently, however, a rift occurred between Manolov and Taskov when the former started demanding a 15% instead of 7% deduction. Immediately after Taskov's refusal to divert 15% of each payment, Bitulite Consortium 2018 was subjected to pressure from the RIA.
God save the drivers
And while the RIA has been implicated in this complex syphoning scheme that endangers the lives of drivers, the Ministry of Interior was struck by a much simpler case of public money being squandered under the same premise. "Round, 4 cm to 5 cm in diameter, hardly breakable material, stick-on. With an image agreed with a representative designated by the sponsor." This is the description of the 30,000 icons to be supplied to the Ministry according to a tender documentation for a 420,000 levs contract.
The practice of having icons of Christ hanging from the rear-view mirror has long been known among some more superstitious motorists, but the idea of the Ministry of Interior of giving away icons of a still unknown saint is beyond absurd. The order apparently calls for the icons to be made of unbreakable material, presumably so they don't shatter in accidents.
As part of the procurement, the Interior Ministry will also order 30,000 yellow bags, 15,000 beach balls and 50,000 balloons. All this is part of a tender for a "National Preventive Campaign for Children in the Field of Road Safety," which is financed by the Road Safety Fund. The tender also includes the supply of 30,000 blue pens, 1,000 badges, 1,540 puzzles, 3,000 matchbox cars. All these items are to be branded as per the guidelines of the Ministry.
At the beginning of 2025, the then Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov announced that more than 350,000 levs had been collected in the fund in question between 2021 and November 2024. Some of it has been spent on body cameras for police officers, speed cameras, cars, and tow trucks. Other money has gone towards icons, beach balls and matchbox trolleys - which is more than cynical, given the state of the roads in the country.
The state Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) and the Ministry of Interior have been plagued by corruption scandals for years, but a recent spate of fatalities on poorly maintained roads across the country has drawn ever greater attention to their work. Last week, two deeply problematic practices were highlighted by the Anti-corruption Fund (ACF) and Capital Weekly, respectively.
The first one has to do with road markings and the second - with the purchase of 30,000 icons (yes, as in pictures of saints) through a public tender. Both have enraged the public at a time when it has become extremely vigilant about issues linked to road safety.
