The Bulgarian and Greek sides will propose a joint programme for the development of the southern part of the European transport corridor Baltic Sea - Black Sea - Aegean Sea, part of the North-South route. Together they will seek support from the European Commission, international financial institutions and strategic investors to accelerate the development of the key transport corridor.
This was agreed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadzhov and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport of Greece Christos Staikouras during the Eighth Economic Forum in Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki Summit). The Deputy Prime Minister took part in the panel “EU transport corridors and transport infrastructure in South-East Europe”.
Grozdan Karadzhov pointed out that the construction of transport connectivity is a task that requires huge investments that are unaffordable for national budgets. “In the next multiannual financial framework, the importance of ensuring adequate EU co-financing for our transport projects should be underlined,” the Deputy Prime Minister explained. There should be participation of private companies in the modernization and development of strategic infrastructure.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that currently the rehabilitation of the railway lines on the TEN-T network Plovdiv - Burgas, Karnobat - Sindel, as well as Ruse - Varna is continuing. “Bulgaria is intensively developing the two sea ports of Burgas and Varna. The ferry complex at the port of Varna is a unique transport facility and provides one of the shortest and cheapest transport routes between Europe and Asia,” Grozdan Karadzhov pointed out.
“Together with Romania we submitted a project proposal, which was approved, for a feasibility study and design of a second bridge at Ruse under the Connecting Europe Facility 2021-2027. Currently, a public procurement procedure is underway on the Romanian side for the preparation of the study,” the Deputy Prime Minister further said.
Greek Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Staikouras said that the priority for the country is the construction of the European transport corridors Baltic Sea - Black Sea - Aegean Sea and Western Balkans - Eastern Mediterranean. Staikouras pointed out that the construction of these routes will improve regional connectivity and economic development of the two countries.
