Bulgarian administrative and road control restructuring

Bulgaria is undergoing administrative restructuring aimed at optimizing government functions and centralizing control. In late August 2026, the government approved changes to the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRDPW) to refine administrative units and reduce staff from 627 to 588 employees. This reorganization involved merging directorates, such as combining Legal and Public Procurement into a single Legal Activities directorate, and transferring certain local self-government functions to the General Directorate of Civil Registration and Administrative Services.

By mid-September 2026, the restructuring expanded to road safety and control functions. The Council of Ministers approved a plan to transfer responsibilities from the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) to the Ministry of Interior (MoI) to eliminate fragmented responsibilities and overlapping functions. This reform is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2027 and will proceed through four stages: legislative, structural, digitalization, and implementation.

The initiative includes the elimination of approximately 200 positions—roughly 28% of staff—within the toll system and the RIA. Minister of Transport Georgi Peev noted that the reform relies on restructuring existing resources to achieve a cumulative optimization in staffing efficiency. Technological upgrades are central to the plan, featuring an ‘electronic evidence record’ for digital violation notices, the use of the toll system to detect violations, and the integration of camera and sensor data into a high-tech information core managed by the Ministry of Transport. Additionally, electronic boards will be installed to provide real-time information on traffic, accidents, and weather conditions.