Minister Angelkova: We will work for the complete construction of Hemus highway until 2020
29.08.2014
The complete construction of "Hemus" highway will be a priority for our government, said the Minister of Transport, Information Technology, and Communications, Nikolina Angelkova during a press conference to present the results of the analysis of the work on infrastructure projects with European funding. The project for the entire route will be included within the Operational Program "Transport and Transport Infrastructure" 2014 - 2020 and will be divided into three stages with a total indicative value of 780 million Euros.
"We will propose to the European Commission an increase of the national co-financing for road projects to 50 percent”, said Minister Angelkova. Thus, the total budget of the OP "Transport and Transport Infrastructure" 2014 - 2020 will amount to about 2.5 billion Euros. The funds are needed to implement the main priority in the road sector - completion of "Struma" highway and the start of the tunnel under Shipka peak. The indicative value of Lot 3 of the highway that connects Bulgaria to Greece is 750 million Euros and the construction of the tunnel under Shipka peak is estimated at 150 million Euros.
In the railway sector the work for the completion of the rehabilitation of the entire line Plovdiv – Burgas will continue. During this programming period, three sections are going to be modernized, and the indicative value for the completion of the entire line is 320 million Euros. "The construction of the line Elin Pelin – Septemvri is very important. The project is divided into two sections, and the section Elin Pelin – Ihtiman, which is with an indicative value of about 270 million Euros, is to be constructed by 2020”, added the transport Minister. A separate project for the modernization of key stations along the projects under the Operational Program "Transport" is envisaged.
"The railway line Dragoman - Sofia - Elin Pelin will be the first project in our application under Connecting Europe Facility", announced Nikolina Angelkova. The estimated value is approximately 198 million Euros. The route covers about 65 kilometers and is divided into three sections. "Selecting projects under Connecting Europe Facility will begin in early September and National Railway Infrastructure Company is fully prepared to present it to the Commission. The project meets all requirements of the program and I hope it will receive the necessary support," added the Minister. The other priority projects, which are going to be prepared for application under CEF, are the railway line Vidin - Medkovets and the joint Bulgarian-Romanian project for improving the navigation on the Danube River.
In the last two weeks Minister Nikolina Angelkova inspected all railway projects within the scope of the OP "Transport" 2007 – 2013. There has been a delay in the construction of some facilities which means that emergency measures will be taken, including the possible termination of contracts with contractors. The most problematic project is the route Pazardjik – Stambolijski, part of the modernization project of the line September - Plovdiv, where the physical progress is only 6%. The route Tserkovski – Karnobat, part of the route to Burgas, has experienced serious delays although 70% of it is completed. Delayed building permits and pending acquisition procedures are the main problem for the project Parvomai – Svilengrad”. Following meetings with colleagues from the Ministry of Regional Development I have already issued 2 of 5 building permits and contractors can continue their work", explained Minister Angelkova. According to her, the other three permits will be issued by mid-September, which will eliminate the problems with the project.
Minister Angelkova stated that 30 million levs are provided under OPT as co-financing for projects implemented by National Railway Infrastructure Company. The problem is horizontal because it concerns all projects of the company. National Railway Infrastructure Company should provide 109 million levs to co-finance the projects that it is implementing under OP "Transport. “ If we can provide the critical 30 million levs for this year, the projects won’t be affected”, she stated. "In the past few days we did a full review of the investment program of the company and all funding has been already provided", said Nikolina Angelkova. "This won’t lead to turmoil in the financial stability of the company", she added.
“We decided to continue implementation of the project for the West tangent of Sofia ring road within this programming period", said Minister Angelkova. At the moment there is an ongoing procedure for the selection of contractor for the second part of the project, with a total length of 5.5 km from the river Kakach to the North Tangent. "The expert evaluation shows that this is the right approach as the project has been approved by the EC and its transfer to the new programming period holds many risks including possible financial corrections", added the transport Minister.
In the road sector Lot 4 of Struma highway and Lot 1 Maritza highway are at a risk. On 22 August the Road Infrastructure Agency conducted an inspection and found out that no progress had been made on Lot 4 of Struma highway. At present the physical implementation it is estimated at 55%. A meeting has been convened with the contractor to decide whether the construction company is to resume the work, otherwise, the contract will be terminated.
It emerged from the event that the recommendations in the preliminary audit report prepared by EA "Audit of EU Funds" on projects under OP Transport, have been considered.
Despite all the problems there is no risk of losing funds under the Operational Program "Transport" by the end of 2014, but the works should be accelerated so as to finalize all the projects by the end of 2015. For the purpose, an action plan, which includes all identified problems with specific measures and deadlines for their solution, was prepared in the last 10 days. |