The dredging of Varna Lake is an extremely expensive project in which public money worth almost EUR 223 million has already disappeared in a series of subcontracts that looks like a corruption scheme.
The project is not only expensive but has many serious technical problems, such as the safety problem of the Asparuhovo Bridge in Varna. According to expert engineers and geologists, the bridge is structurally flawed, and its concrete base is inherently compromised. What will be the effect of the widening on the safety of the bridge?
And more: why does the channels’ deepening not reach the piers of the public port of Varna-West at all? Is it possible that the sand mass goes back to the lake locations from where it was dredged? How many more millions will it cost to address the other issues that the dredging project fails to address? And finally: in whose interest is so much public money being spent? The second episode of the Anti-Corruption Fund’s “Swamp Stories from Varna Lake” series features information from journalist Spas Spasov’s investigation and expert analysis.