site.btaTransport Minister Comments on Middle East Crisis, HEMS Choppers, Railways

In case there are Bulgarians in need of evacuation, a very serious and responsible approach must be taken to this process, Bulgarian Transport and Communications Minister Georgi Gvozdeykov said in a National Television interview on Wednesday morning. He described the situation in the Middle East as "extremely serious".

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs works in coordination with the Bulgarian Embassy in Israel. In general, they handle the entire evacuation mission. We are assisting in the transport operation, so when we are signaled that a flight to Israel must be arranged, we do everything possible to make it happen in the fastest way possible," the Minister explained. He said that currently there are no scheduled flights to Israel, but the situation is changing by the minute and the Bulgarian authorities are ready to react when necessary.

Gvozdeykov said that reports about a Bulgarian citizen being held hostage in Gaza have not been confirmed.

"The manufacture of the first helicopter ambulance for Bulgaria is in a rather advanced phase. We expect it to roll off the line in mid-November and test flights to begin," the Transport Minister said, replying to a question.

"The pilots and engineers are currently in Italy, preparing to maintain and fly the aircraft," he added. The aircraft operator will be licensed by the end of 2023, which will make it possible to operate the first helicopter as early as January. Three crews of pilots and two teams of engineers are being trained. The sixth and last helicopter is expected to arrive by the end of 2026, and by that time the system should be staffed with technicians at the operational bases, Gvozdeykov pointed out. He explained that the second helicopter will be delivered in mid-June 2024, and the third one should arrive in late December.

The Transport Minister commented that up to BGN 2 billion is to be invested in rolling stock for the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) by the end of 2026 under the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Gvozdeykov sees "a substantial potential" in the BDZ which, however, needs a new vision, a new strategy and a new development plan. The planned improvement of the quality and level of service will inevitably result in an increase in the price of rail fare, he explained.