site.btaBulgaria Draft Projects Worth Lv 3 Bln to Improve Road Safety

Sofia, March 27 (BTA) - Regional Development Minister Nikolai Nankov told journalists on Tuesday that Bulgaria has drafted measures and activities to improve road safety worth over 3 billion leva and that it will seek EU funding after 2020.

The Minister participated in an international conference on road safety within the Bulgarian EU Presidency calendar.

Based on a future debate on a strategic framework for road safety, the European Commission wants information from all EU countries on what activities they are going to undertake and the necessary resources, the Minister said.

Bulgaria wants 2.6 billion leva to improve safety on existing roads and 730 million leva for those that will be built by 2030.

The Minister recalled that the European Commission has been making concerted efforts to improve road safety in all segments to reduce the road fatalities. He said that for years Bulgaria has been lagging behind in Europe.

Nankov said that some 8,000 km of national roads and 12,000 km of municipal roads need urgent repairs.