February 15 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's prime minister Boyko Borisov has ordered the termination of a disputed procedure for the construction of two motorway sections, worth a total of 756.8 million levs ($426.7 million/387 million euro), the government's press office said on Monday.
The brief statement, published on the government's website, includes no further information, regarding the factors that triggered the decision.
In December, Bulgaria selected two local companies, reportedly related to influential local businessmen, to build two sections of Hemus motorway, which is designed to connect the capital of Sofia with the Black Sea city of Varna.
The AM Hemus Lot 1 tie-up won a contract to build Lot 1 of the motorway after offering to carry out the works for 277.4 million levs, VAT excluded. The consortium is allegedly linked to the chief of the Bulgarian unit of Russia's Lukoil, Valentin Zlatev.
The other contract - for Lot 2 of the motorway, was awarded to the PST Hemus 2 consortium, which had submitted an offer worth 479.4 million levs. The alliance is associated with controversial local businessman and member of parliament, Delyan Peevski.
Unlike other major road infrastructure projects that are supported by EU funds, the Bulgarian government had not secured financing for this two Hemus motorway stretches. They were planned to be funded by the state budget.
Two foreign firms that participated in the tenders - Italy's Serenissima Costruzioni and Turkish Tasyapi Insaat Tahhut Sanayi ve Ticaret - have appealed the two contract awards.
The two Hemus sections have a total length of 59 km. The planned length of the whole motorway, part of which is operational, is 433 km.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)