After several years of reconstruction, the vital Pass of the Republic in Stara Planina Balkan ridge, popularly known by its old Turkish name Hainboaz, was opened for use - but only just. Days after the new Government started its term on July 27, it was announced that although construction had finished, the pass will only be partially open to traffic because of a legal problem.

The works, which started in 2006, were designed to ease congestion between southern and northern Bulgaria by adding a third lane. Indeed Hainboaz now impresses with its third lane. The problem is that, somewhere along the line, an unknown party omitted to include it in the pass construction documentation. Legally, it doesn’t exist, hence the relevant authorities cannot give the green light to traffic, except on the two other revamped lanes. It fell to incoming Regional Development Minister Rossen Plevneliev and the new head of the National Road Infrastructure Agency (NRIA) Dimitar Ivanov to highlight this absurd oversight.

Off schedule
The pass was supposed to open on August 6 but was postponed until August 16 exactly because of this problem. This was not the first time the pass launch had been postponed. But while on previous occasions the delay was caused by additional required construction (which added 5.2 million euro to its original 19.8 million euro price), this time the reason lay with the paperwork.

In an interview with Bulgarian-language mass circulation Trud daily on August 12, Ivanov explained why this vital link of Bulgaria’s road infrastructure was not yet viable.  

"Together with the National Construction Control Directorate (which gives the final go-ahead for such projects) we have established that the third carriageway of the pass is not included in the project approved for construction. Hence, we have decided to launch traffic on the two lanes which feature in the project until we find some solution to the problem," he said. "Right now the third lane practically doesn’t exist on paper," Ivanov noted. Construction of the third lane had cost the state about six million euro he said, and an investigation would reveal why the project had excluded it. "If we don’t have all the documentation in order, we can’t launch the third lane," he said.

Legal challenge
Although the short-term answer is to launch just the two lanes, the long-term permanent solution could be a legal challenge. According to the Spatial Development Act, under whose jurisdiction the pass’ construction falls, there is little room, if any, for legalising parts of roads that did not feature in the project plan. In similar cases involving other construction, the law usually prescribes the demolition of the illegal site. Given Hainboaz’s strategic importance and the amount of money spent on it, it is hardly a viable option in this case. But legalising the third lane would involve serious effort and many compromises that could set a precedent.    

Who is to blame?
Naturally, with so much public money at stake, people are eager to find the culprit for the documentation oversight. All eyes are directed at the previous head of the NRIA, Yanko Yankov, and his superior, former regional development minister Assen Gagauzov. So far, neither have commented on the issue, probably waiting for the investigation to finish.

According to Plevneliev, running projects without proper paperwork was a regular feature of NRIA’s work.
This time it seems that motorists themselves will bear the brunt of NRIA’s failure, especially in view of the coming winter when weather on the pass is usually particularly harsh. The only hope so far is that the pass was opened with a temporary permit that will last until October 30. By that date NRIA’s legal experts will hopefully have found a solution for the troublesome third lane.