Bulgarian Regional Minister Lilyana Pavlova said that the new public tender for the construction of the first section of Hemus motorway between Yablanitsa and Boaza will be launched in May.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov ordered the suspension of the BGN 800 M tender for the construction of lots 1 and 2 in February due to suspicions for the lack of transparency and irregularities in the selection procedure of contractors.

Media reports linked the contracting firms to controversial MP and media mogul Delyan Peevski and the head of Lukoil Bulgaria Valentin Zlatev.

It then became clear that the construction will be funded by the government budget, with options to make it cheaper to be explored.

Pavlova assured that the public procurement procedure had been carried out by the rules, but the lack of EU funding necessitated the project to be reviewed.

As a result, the projected speed is to be decreased and the track will be designed to follow to a maximum extent the relief of the terrain, which would make the construction cheaper.

The construction is foreseen to be divided into smaller sections, Pavlova added in an interview for private bTV station on Thursday.

The projected speed for the section has been reduced to 120 km/h and the median strip shortened from three to two metres.

For the next section to Dermantsi interchange, the two tunnels, which had initially been foreseen, will not be constructed, which would save at least BGN 100 M.

The new project also foresees to bypass a tunnel and viaduct in the section between Dermantsi and Kalenik interchange.

A projected speed of 140 km/h requires more straight sections and higher viaducts, which would make the motorway more expensive.

The height of the viaducts will also be reduced in the section between Pleven and Lovech.