On 11 November, Bulgaria’s Council of Ministers announced that it was “accelerating the construction” of a four-lane road between Asenovgrad and Smolyan.
But there is no construction. Nor has work even begun.
The government’s own press release states that procurement procedures for the partial widening of the road to include a third lane are due to begin in 2026, while the four-lane road remains a project to be prepared “in parallel”. (gov.bg)
This is yet another exercise in political demagoguery: presenting an intention to act at some unspecified point in the future as though it were already a fait accompli.
So far, the only tangible progress is a technical design for a third lane across three sections, covering a total of approximately 14 kilometres.
The contract to prepare the design was published on 14 August 2024 in Bulgaria’s public procurement system (app.eop.bg), with a deadline of 100 days. More than ten months have passed since the design was due to be completed, yet no construction tender has been announced.
And now the authorities insist they are “accelerating” the project—but not this year. Next year.
A timeline of the same promises
February 2018 – Nikolay Nankov, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works: “The preliminary design for the construction of a third lane on the Asenovgrad–Smolyan road should be ready in about a month. This is an extremely high-priority project for the region.”
October 2020 – Boyko Borissov, Prime Minister: “We will build a third lane over approximately 15 kilometres to ease traffic as much as possible. It won’t be cheap—around BGN 70 million and a bit more. An Italian company is carrying out the survey.”
March 2021 – Boyko Borissov, Prime Minister: “The third lane between Asenovgrad and Smolyan will cost BGN 78 million. That is no small amount, but the project is ready and the money has been allocated. Once the weather improves a little, we’ll get started.”
January 2022 – Grozdan Karadzhov, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works: “The Road Infrastructure Agency’s 2022 programme provides for a public procurement procedure to be announced for the ‘Construction of a third lane in the following sections: from km 68+800 to km 73+650, from km 80+800 to km 86+100, and from km 90+530 to km 94+300’. The estimated funding has been included in the Agency’s three-year budget framework.”
October 2025 – Ivan Ivanov, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works: “We are now at the first interim stage. A road safety audit is due, so that next year we can have a clear date for the project’s launch.”
An echo from the Rhodope Mountains
On 30 October 2025, 98-year-old Smolyan resident Georgi Milushev told Regional Development Minister Ivan Ivanov: “If you get the third lane from Asenovgrad to Smolyan built, I’ll put up a monument to you.”
The minister replied: “Stay healthy, and invite us to your 100th birthday.”
That exchange says it all: people keep waiting while ministers smile.
Acceleration—or political spin?
Two regional development ministers and two prime ministers have been making essentially the same promises for years: “the project is ready”, “we’ll start within a month”, “the funding is secured”, “we’re accelerating construction”.
Yet, in practice, not a single construction tender for the partial third lane has been announced to date.
The latest promise is that “procedures will begin next year, in 2026”—without specifying whether this refers to the 14-kilometre section with a partial third lane or the “four-lane Asenovgrad–Smolyan road”, as the project was presented in the headline.
The government’s press release consists largely of vague generalities. Yet one passage contains a key admission by the government’s own press office: “The government has undertaken to provide assistance with the implementation of the region’s key road infrastructure project.”
Put this way, the cabinet is effectively admitting that it does not govern but serves others: decisions are being made elsewhere, leaving the government to play the role of a body that merely “provides support”.
Who is actually in charge becomes clear from a Facebook post by Halil Letifov, deputy chairman of DPS–New Beginning: “We, from DPS–New Beginning, initiated the working meeting at the Council of Ministers” (the meeting referred to in the original statement—editor’s note). He added: “Special thanks to the chairman of DPS and the parliamentary group of DPS–New Beginning, Mr Delyan Peevski, for his commitment to people’s problems and his strong support.”
