site.btaUPDATED Construction of Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo Motorway Inaugurated

The construction of a motorway between Ruse and Veliko Tarnovo was inaugurated on Sunday, the Regional Ministry said. 

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov, Regional Development Minister Andrey Tsekov, Deputy Transport Minister Dimitar Nedyalkov, Deputy Parliament Speaker Rossitsa Kirova, Dessislava Paunova of the Road Infrastructure Agency, the regional governors of Ruse and Veliko Tarnovo, Danail Kovachev and Ivailo Zdravkov, MPs, mayors and representatives of the construction company and the construction supervision company. 

“This will be one of our main priorities from now on,” said Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov during the groundbreaking ceremony.  „A month and a half ago I had a meeting with the prime ministers of Greece and Romania at Euxinograd to discuss hoу to develop the South-North corridors. Ruse is at the centre of the motorways that we want to build from the Aegean Sea to Romania, Moldova and Ukraine,” added Denkov.  

Speaking to journalists, Regional Development Minister Andrey Tsekov said that the project for the Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo motorway is feasible and the designs are almost complete. The deadline for its construction is 
five years after the construction permits are issued.  At the end of November while presenting the Ministry’s 2024 draft budget in Parliament, Minister Tsekov said that the designs are expected to be completed in April.

Tsekov also recalled that currently construction of the motorway between Vidin and Botevgrad and Hemus motorway is underway. "The 2024 budget sets aside money for the design of express roads from Svishtov, between Ruse and Shumen, Silistra and Shumen and Silistra and Varna,” he said.

Deputy Transport Minister Dimitar Nedyalkov said that the Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo motorway will be part of the logistical corridor for the future recovery of Ukraine. 
 
The motorway will be 132.84 km long and its construction is divided into three sections. Designs for the first 7.9 km section have been completed, the land has been appropriated and a construction permit issued.

Preparations for the remaining two sections are underway.  

The motorway will begin at Ruse and will reach the town of Debelets where traffic will be divided towards the Shipka Pass and the Pass of the Republic. In each direction the motorway will have two traffic lanes, an emergency lane, a road median, interchanges and access points.