site.btaTransport Minister: Construction of Strategic Infrastructure Projects Requires Specific Legislation

All railway projects that have been launched have similar issues related to poor planning and extremely cumbersome administrative procedures before the start of construction, caretaker Transport Minister Georgi Gvozdeykov said on Friday during an inspection of the under-construction railway sections of the Elin Pelin - Kostenets project. Gvozdeykov got acquainted with the three lots of the project on the spot, the Transport Ministry said in a press release.

According to the minister, a comprehensive solution should be sought for the problems with the railway projects, rather than working "piecemeal" for each individual section. "The more we delay projects because of administrative obstacles, the more they become expensive and this puts a burden on the state budget in the long term," Gvozdeykov said.

"We need legislation to eliminate long procedures for infrastructure projects of strategic importance. That is why I will initiate talks with the relevant institutions to create special legislation for the construction of these objects," he was adamant.

Construction workers on all three sections raised the issue of requested project indexations. It became clear that a meeting was to be arranged with the Ministry of Finance to discuss this matter in detail.