A European Commission warning letter to the Bulgarian National Road Infrastructure Agency (NRIA) has halted procedures for selecting companies that are to build lot 2 and lot 3 of Trakiya Highway, the NRIA said on December 30 2008.

The EC has expressed concerns about possible violations in tender procedures for selecting construction companies. These violations, according to the EC letter, may contradict EU legislation; hence, the EC has asked the NRIA to temporarily stop the work of the commissions that have to select tender winners.

This means that any work on Trakiya Highway, which links Sofia to the Black Sea city of Bourgas, will be delayed for an indefinite time.
By January 2 2009, the contract for the construction of lot 3 (a 36km-long section between Nova Zagora and Yambol) had to be signed. By the end of January 2009 the contracts for lot 2 (a 32km-long section between Stara Zagora and Nova Zagora) were also due to be signed. Lots 1 and 5 have already been completed. No tender for the final lot 4 has yet been called.

Work on the tender procedures would be restored once the EC presented its final approval.