Legal changes envisaging fast-track expropriation of terrains on the route of socially significant projects passed first reading in Parliament on Thursday.

The amendments to the State Property Act were backed by 150 MPs, with 3 MPs against, and 41 abstentions, according to Sega daily.

The bill was backed by center-right party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), right-wing formation the Reformist Bloc, liberal party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), populist party Bulgaria without Censorship, and left-wing party Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABV Movement).  The MPs of nationalist formation the Patriotic Front and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) mostly abstained, while the representatives of nationalist party Ataka did not take part in the vote.

The initiators of the legal amendments argue that they will allow fast-track construction of socially significant sites and timely absorption of EU funds, at the same time guaranteeing the protection of private property and the rights of owners of properties which are being expropriated.

The bill was prepared and submitted to Parliament by the caretaker government and was subsequently endorsed by Regional Development Minister Lilyana Pavlova.

However, similar legal changes to the Spatial Planning Act adopted in 2011 were cancelled by the Constitutional Court.

Appeals are currently delaying the completion of the Struma and Maritsa motorways and the Sofia Northern Bypass motorway and are endangering the absorption of EU funds.

Under the bill, an investor in a site of national significance can obtain possession before the expropriation act enters into force if the preliminary execution of the expropriation act has been approved.

The legal changes provide that construction works will not be stopped due to disputes over the compensation or the expropriation procedure.

The amendments concern the construction of new roads and projects which are implemented with state funding or EU funding.

Maya Manolova from BSP noted that the bill lacked an impact assessment and a financial evaluation.

DPS leader Lyutvi Mestan claimed that its adoption would eliminate the risk of Bulgaria losing huge amounts of funding, including EU funding, in a time of crisis.