site.btaNorth Macedonia Transport Minister Complains to EU about Bulgaria's Reallocation of Sofia-Skopje Railway Funding, Bulgaria Denies Postponing Construciton

North Macedonia's Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski believes that the Bulgarian government's decision to redirect funds originally intended for the repair of parts of the Sofia-Skopje railway to the construction of a line linking Sofia and Burgas (on the Black Sea) sent a political message about Bulgaria's commitment to the development of Pan-European Transport Corridor 8, the Media Information Agency (MIA) reported on Friday. Nikoloski said he had sent letters to European institutions complaining against Bulgaria.

Late on Friday, Bulgaria's Transport Ministry told BTA that Corridor 8 is a national priority and gave assurances that it had not postponed the construction of the railway line to the Republic of North Macedonia. The Ministry described as "media speculation" the claim that Sofia had put off the modernization of the Bulgarian section. Of the total length 1,220 km of railway, more than half (747 km) lies in Bulgarian territory, and just 2.5 km of the railway linking Gyueshevo in Bulgaria with Deve Bair in North Macedonia remains to be built. This section is funded under the Transport Connectivity Programme 2021-2027 and will be completed as planned by 2029. By comparison, the missing section in North Macedonia is about 70 km, Bulgaria's Transport Ministry told BTA.

"We sent letters to the European Delegation (in North Macedonia), the European Transport Community, and the two banks - the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development - after the Bulgarian government announced yesterday that no funds have been allocated for the railway which is supposed to link Sofia and Skopje via Railway Corridor 8," Nikoloski said, as quoted by MIA, referring to Wednesday's decision of the Bulgarian government to change the Transport Connectivity Programme 2021-2027.

Nikoloski further stressed that loan agreements worth EUR 350 million had been signed for the construction of Corridor 8, and if they are not used, compensation will have to be paid. "In this case, the loans would remain unused not because of us, but because of the neighbouring country's fault," he said, adding that North Macedonia must protect its financial interests.

"Our country remains strongly committed to the construction of Railway Corridor 8. Right now, active work is underway on the second section, which is 34 kilometres long and connects Beljakovce and Kriva Palanka," Nikoloski said. "We remain engaged in dialogue with Bulgaria to find a common, technically acceptable solution regarding the tunnel which is supposed to connect the two countries for the construction of the third section," the Transport Minister added, as quoted by MIA.

He emphasized that Corridor 8 is of crucial importance not only for North Macedonia but also for the entire region and the whole of Europe.

"There is a railway line, but it is dilapidated in Bulgaria and practically unusable. Apart from building the tunnel and the connection at Gyueshevo, it is much more important to repair the section between Gyueshevo and Sofia so as to connect Skopje and Sofia," Nikoloski said.

He stressed that redirecting funds allocated for sections of the railway line between Sofia and Pernik, and between Pernik and Radomir, to the line between Sofia and Burgas sends "a clear political message about Bulgaria's commitment" to the construction of Corridor 8.

"All the propaganda against the government (of North Macedonia) in the past seven months, primarily against Prime Minister (Hristijan) Mickoski and against me - claiming that we are against Bulgaria, that we do not want to unite, that we belong to some kind of an Athens-Belgrade axis, and similar nonsense - is falling apart," said Nikoloski.

The transnational East-West transport axis (Corridor 8) extends from the port of Bari in Italy through Albania and North Macedonia to the Bulgarian ports of Varna and Burgas. The central part of this Pan-European Corridor runs through North Macedonia - Kichevo, Skopje, Kumanovo, Beljakovtse and Kriva Palanka. However, there are missing links at the western end (from Kicevo to the Albanian border) and at the eastern end (from Kumanovo to the Bulgarian border), part of which (from Kumanovo to Beljakovtse) was put into operation on January 17.