site.btaRoad Construction Workers Call Off Protests, Will Seek Dialogue with Caretaker Government

Road construction workers are stopping their protests and will seek dialogue with the future caretaker government, Bulgarian Branch Chamber Roads President Stefan Chaikov told journalists here on Friday.

Construction workers gathered on Friday for a third day to protest near Parliament's building. 

They demand the payment of some BGN 720 million owed to road construction companies for work already done, as well as the adoption of legislation that would allow price indexing in construction.

Commenting the payment of the money owed to construction companies, Chaikov said that only the Constitutional Court can resolve this issue. 

Road construction companies still continued their planned protests throughout the country on Friday

Personnel from AB organization in Haskovo the company protested by road at the junction to the village of Krepost in Dimitrovgrad and near Harmanli.

For the third day in a row, the road construction workers also closed the roundabout on the Pazardzhik road at the Plovdiv exit. "The managers clearly think that it is possible to work without money, but this is not normal," Lazar Bekirski, a representative of Evropeiski Patishta AD commented for BTA. He argued that if there is no reaction, mass bankruptcies of road construction companies will begin. "We hope that the future caretaker government will respond to our requests and pay the funds for the activities we have carried out," added Bekirski.

Friday's protest by workers of Automagistrali - Cherno More in Shumen at the Belokopitovo junction of the Hemus motorway was terminated ahead of schedule. The reason was that in the formed column of cars there was a woman in labour traveling to Varna and a man in need of an operation in Shumen. Asen Todorov, technical manager of Automagistrali - Cherno More said to BTA reporter: "Our goal is not to inconvenience citizens. Our goal is to be heard!".

Workers from road construction companies from Targovishte did not shut down traffic on the main road Sofia - Varna in the area of the Bukhovtsi road junction. They chose to protest at the side of the road.  The deputy director of the company Patinjeneringstroy-T EAD Radomir Hadjitanev said that after Friday the protest of the road construction companies will be suspended until the formation of an official cabinet.