GERB has asked the European Commission to look into an emergency audit of the Road Infrastructure Agency (API), claiming that deficit data is being manipulated, MP Temenuzhka Petkova said.

The complaint was filed the day before, she told a briefing in the parliament lobby. Parliament asked the National Audit Office to carry out the audit.

GERB says the finance ministry gave API verbal instructions. It says the agency was told to prepare documents and certificates for work that should be booked in 2026 but is being moved to the 2025 budget. The party first made these claims in early September.

Petkova said the aim is to raise the 2025 deficit unlawfully and cut the 2026 one. The 2026 deficit is 5.7% of GDP, and Petkova called it scandalous.

The audit report has gone to API's current management and to all former heads whose work was checked. Petkova said it found no invoices hidden in "drawers". Such invoices were never issued, and the agency's management board did not approve certificates for work done, but certificates were found. She said this backs GERB's claim of data manipulation, and the story of the ruling Progressive Bulgaria party about invoices in "drawers" falls apart.

Petkova also claims that regional development and public works minister Ivan Shishkov had the information even before there was a draft report.

GERB expects the European Commission to act. "The standing of the country and of our national and European institutions cannot be sacrificed for narrow party goals," Petkova said.

The finance ministry firmly distanced itself from the "public speculation" that the 2025 deficit is being manipulated by interfering in National Audit Office audits.

The National Audit Office said, when asked, that all audits ordered by parliament are under way: of API, of social payments and of public finances. None has ended with an adopted final report. The deadline for the final audit report is 30 October 2026.