ACF uncovered a potential scheme involving unlawful subcontracting in connection with repair works on the Trakia Motorway, which caused kilometres-long traffic jams in June. The chain of companies involved includes a firm linked to alleged underworld boss Hristoforos Amanatidis, known as Taki, as well as companies implicated in the scandal over the alleged siphoning of more than BGN 54 million earmarked for the construction of the Hemus Motorway.

The multimillion-euro project was awarded by the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) to the state-owned company Avtomagistrali EAD, despite the fact that the company lacks the necessary capacity to carry out this type of work — something established by the Bulgarian National Audit Office as early as 2021.

Avtomagistrali, in turn, signed a subcontracting agreement with Nivel Stroy EOOD. The company, based in the town of Breznik and linked to Hristoforos Amanatidis–Taki, expanded rapidly during Boyko Borissov’s third government and was awarded lucrative road-construction contracts in the final days of the Zhelyazkov government.

Posts on social media reveal that other contractors are actually working on site — Groma Hold EOOD and European Roads AD. For two years, prosecutors investigated executives of the two companies in connection with the alleged siphoning of millions intended for the construction of the Hemus Motorway. Ultimately, they avoided criminal charges following intervention by senior members of the Prosecutor’s Office.