Bulgaria Audit Finds Road Agency Contracted 18.2 Billion Leva Against 11.4 Billion Spending Base

Bulgaria's national audit office says the country's Road Infrastructure Agency (API) entered into more than 18.2 billion leva in contracts over the period it examined, against an expenditure base of 11.4 billion leva. The 6.8 billion leva difference describes commitments relative to available funding across multiple years; it is **not** a finding that 6.8 billion leva was stolen, paid out or immediately due.

In a statement dated 2 November 2026, the Bulgarian National Audit Office said its parliamentary-commissioned compliance audit examined the agency's management of assets, commitments, activities and spending from 1 January 2020 to 31 May 2026. The auditors said they delivered their report to parliament by the 30 October deadline. Their figures show commitments about 60% higher than the period's expenditure base, creating financing requirements extending into future budget years.

The office reported that 139 of 213 road-maintenance contracts had supplementary agreements worth 5.6 billion leva in total, 78% above the original estimated values for the affected contracts. One example began with an 18.7 million leva estimate and ultimately approached 396 million leva after additions, indexation and settlements. The audit described cases in which the scope of work changed materially, but the aggregate figures alone do not establish that all amendments were unlawful or that contractors committed fraud.

Auditors separately identified problems in price-indexation agreements designed to account for inflation. They said the agency signed 56 settlements worth nearly 1.1 billion leva and had paid slightly more than 761 million leva of them by 30 June 2026. The audit concluded that some commitments lacked budget cover, some indexation concerned terminated contracts, and the agency lacked updated internal rules. These are findings by the state audit institution, not criminal judgments against named individuals.

A further accounting issue concerned work certificates for completed road maintenance that had not received final agency approval. The auditors said 1,017 such certificates, worth nearly 1.2 billion leva, formed part of 1.5 billion leva in corrections to the ministry's 2025 financial statements, alongside unrecorded indexation and interest. The corrections recognise earlier obligations in the proper accounting period; the audit explicitly says they did not create new liabilities. Delayed approval and inconsistent documentation, the office warned, made payment priorities less transparent and increased the risk of disputes and interest charges.

The auditors issued ten recommendations and five sub-recommendations to the agency's management board. Their account identifies weaknesses in planning, procurement documentation, contract files and payment controls, but does not by itself establish criminal intent, personal enrichment or the ultimate legal outcome of any disputed contract.

The agency's position should not be inferred from silence. In an interview with Bulgarian National Television on 1 July, before the final audit, board chairman Aleksandar Todorov said the agency was cooperating with auditors and wanted their conclusions to be impartial. He attributed long-standing infrastructure problems partly to underfunding and an ageing road network, while discussing a proposed restructuring of road-maintenance contracting. Those earlier remarks are **not** a response to the 2 November findings; a current agency or ministry response to the completed audit was not independently located during this reporting cycle.

The distinction matters for public accountability: commitments, invoices, recognised obligations and cash payments are different accounting categories. Parliament and the public can assess the audit's recommendations and any subsequent agency corrective plan without assuming every budget discrepancy represents embezzlement. The next records to examine are the complete adopted audit report, the agency's written objections or implementation plan, and contract-by-contract procurement amendments and payment records.