Sat, Nov 21 2009

Biometric passport deal signed and halted by court

Thu, Apr 16 2009 14:34 CET byRene Beekman 2752 Views 2 Comments
Biometric passport deal signed and halted by court

Photo: Julia Lazarova

Only four hours after Interior Minister Mihail Mikov signed a 116 million euro deal with Germany's Siemens for the development of Bulgaria's new biometric passports, the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) put the deal on ice.

The SAC froze the deal after three companies who competed for the order contested the selection of Siemens.

The procurement to select a company to produce Bulgaria's new biometric passport has been restarted several times over the past couple of years. Its introduction is hopelessly behind schedule as they were supposed to be introduced before the country would join the European Union in January 2007.

The two-year delay could trigger EU procedures against the country, Bulgarian daily Dnevnik said.

Introduction of the biometric passport is a requirement before the country can become part of the Schengen agreement. For this, in June 2009 a commission was expected to visit Bulgaria to discuss visa matters and by that time the country should be ready with the introduction of biometric passports, Dnevnik said.

The new passport would cost 50 leva, according to Mikov, and would gradually replace old passports when they expire.

Comments

Anonymous Martin Mon, May 11 2009 01:19 CET
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Notting new my friend! Just lies and more corruption like anywhare but there is incredible!

Anonymous raptor Thu, Apr 16 2009 21:43 CET
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Politics again!! what is new in this country............

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