TI-Bulgaria started preparation for independent civil monitoring of a tender of strategic significance for the country – design and building of Zheleznitsa tunnel, Struma motorway Lot 3.1. The contracting authority is the National Company “Strategic Infrastructure Projects”.

 

The monitoring will be implemented based on an Integrity Pact. The Pact will be applied at all stages of the tender, including documentation preparation, bidding and contracting procedure as well as implementation of the contract.

 

The initiative will be implemented within a four-year international project “Integrity Pacts – Civil control mechanism for safeguarding EU Funds, Phase 2” funded by European Commission.  The project will be implemented in at least 10 EU Member States. The coordinator of the project is Transparency International Secretariat.

 

The main goal of the initiative is to explore and promote the implementation of Integrity Pacts in public procurement throughout the EU in order to prevent fraud and corruption in the spending of EU funds. Integrity Pacts contribute for good reputation of the contracting authorities and the bidders and helps to increase competition through strengthening  of public procurement procedures.