Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania adopted a Declaration on the coordinated activities for the construction of the transport corridor Bari/Brandis – Durrës/Vlorë – Tirana – Skopje – Sofia – Burgas/Varna
31.10.2014
Bulgaria will work on the inclusion of the TEN-T transport corridor Bari/Brandis – Durrës/Vlorë – Tirana – Skopje – Sofia – Burgas/Varna (Corridor 8), said the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Nikolina Angelkova during a briefing after welcoming the participants in the Conference “The Balkans - infrastructure and transport linkages between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea”.
Earlier today Minister Angelkova held a meeting with the Minister of Transport and Connections of the Republic of Macedonia Mile Janakieski and the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Albania Edmond Haxhinasto. During the talks they agreed to adopt a joint Declaration on the coordinated activities for the construction of Corridor 8. The three ministers shared the view of establishing a working group and a coordinator for the joint project as well as convening an annual meeting between the sectorial ministers. In order to ensure more efficient and high-quality regional transport services, the parties agreed to work together and foster the development of multimodal infrastructure along the corridor, as well as coordinate and implement measures to facilitate border crossings and provide corridors for rapid and seamless transition of goods. Another commitment stemming from the Declaration is the long-term planning and consistent policy of coordinated development of infrastructure, with a focus on investment projects with the highest added value for the region as well as the coordination for more effective low carbon transport strategies supported by required financing, capacity building and new mechanisms to promote the timely transfer of technology related to a new low carbon transport. The parties shall achieve sustainable mobility and high efficiency and quality of service in the long term by focusing their efforts on addressing key challenges for the sector, namely the modernization of infrastructure, the deployment of intelligent transport systems, improving the competitiveness of transport companies limiting the harmful effects on the environment.
In her welcome speech Minister Angelkova underlined that “considering the importance of the corridor not only in regional but also in European terms, we have engaged significant efforts to include a great part of the line in the core TEN-T network. The section Sofia – Plovdiv – Burgas is part of the Orient/East-Mediterranean Corridor as well as the railway network for competitive cargo transportations established with Regulation 913/2010.
Minister Nikolina Angelkova informed that the design of the railway line Radomir – Gyeshevo has been included in the new program period of OP Transport and Transport Infrastructure 2014 – 2020, and added that coordinated investment in the transport system on national and regional level are a guarantee for our successful future and well-being of the citizens in the region and will improve the conditions for free movement of people and goods. |