Museums in Kyustendil and Pernik have already signed contracts worth 645 000 leva to carry out digs in three separate locations alongside the stretch that will link Doupnitsa to Dolna Dikanya, the chairperson of the agency's managing board Lazar Lazarov told mediapool.bg.
The history museum in Shoumen has asked for 420 000 leva to investigate the remains of an ancient settlement on the route of Hemus motorway, but Lazarov said the agency was in talks to reduce the amount to 350 000 leva. Reportedly, that is the amount that Prime Minsiter Boiko Borissov offered archaeologists during a visit to the Hemus construction site in January.
Lazarov said that it was unlikely that work on the Hemus motorway would stop should the two sides fail to reach agreement on the size of funding, as Regional Development Minister Lilyana Pavlova threatened a week earlier.
That episode was the latest in skirmishes over completing Bulgaria’s major new motorways while archaeologists want time and money to complete their digs.
Previously, Borissov had got involved, telling archaeologists to hurry up, put on warm clothing to work through the winter and, he reportedly said, if necessary "Lilly Pavlova will come and hold an umbrella over them".
Source: The Sofia Echo [February 23, 2012]
