site.btaBulgaria Needs EUR 4,320 Mln for Full Railway Connectivity with Western Balkans

Sofia, May 18 (BTA) - Investments totalling 4,320 million euro are needed for the construction of Bulgaria's priority railway connections by 2030, Bulgarian Transport, Information Technology and Communications Minister Ivaylo Moskovski said here on Thursday, quoted by his Ministry in a press release.

He was speaking at a discussion on transport projects in the Western Balkans. The forum, initiated by Moskovski, was part of the EU-Western Balkans Summit and was attended by the transport ministers of Macedonia and Kosovo, the State Secretary of Montenegro, and officials of the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the Regional Cooperation Council.

Moskovski said in his statement that 4,147 million euro are needed for the projects of the core TEN-T network and the remaining 173 million will be spent on modernization of the 123 km Karnobat-Sindel line, which is part of the extended TEN-T. In his words, this route is essential because it links the two largest Bulgarian Black Sea ports, Varna and Bourgas. The Minister pointed out that the Vidin-Sofia railway line is the most complicated to modernize and, therefore, the most expensive, with tentative investments of 2,310 million euro. Another important railway line, which is part of the Orient - East Med Corridor, is Sofia-Kulata, the modernization of which will cost 1,220 million euro.

Moskovski presented a project for the modernization of the 49.5 km Voluyak Dragoman-Serbian border line, which, too, is part of the core TEN-T and has been identified by the EU Council as a priority cross-border section. The Minister said that the implementation of this project requires an investment of 132 million euro.

For the railway connectivity with Macedonia, work is already under way on a project for technical assistance for the modernization of the 90 km Radomir-Kyustendil- Gyueshevo-Macedonian border line, which will cost a tentative 477 million euro to implement.

Moskovski noted that these investment are not risky and the projects will be crucial for the security and development of the region.