We provided a total amount of 560 million BGN for railway projects under the Connecting Europe Fcility. This became clear during the visit of the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Ivaylo Moskovski in Brussels. He pointed out that with these funds the total amount for rail infrastructure under OPTTI and CEF by 2022 will reach 2 billion BGN with the national co-financing.
In the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency at the European Commission Minister Ivaylo Moskovski signed today an Agreement on financing of the project "Modernization of the railway section Kostenetz - Septemvri". The document was also signed by the Chairman of the Managing Board of the National Railway Infrastructure Company Hristo Aleksiev and by the Director of the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency Dirk Beckers. The total project value is 350 million BGN, of which approximately 300 million BGN provided by the Connecting Europe Facility.
Minister Ivaylo Moskovski pointed out that the project on the rehabilitation of the railway section Kostenetz - Septemvri is of strategic importance not only for Bulgaria but also for the better connectivity of all countries in Southeastern Europe. In his words, the direction is part of the priority corridor connecting the Serbian border with port Bourgas, as well as with the Greek and the Turkish borders.
"The resource which Bulgaria has by 2020 under OP "Transport and Transport Infrastructure" for road and rail infrastructure is approximately 2.6 billion BGN. For us it is clear that with this amount we will not be able to construct all directions from the core TEN-T network. So, our efforts are aimed at finding other financial instruments to build strategic infrastructure", said Minister Moskovski.
Our country already has six approved transport projects under the Connecting Europe Facility totaling at about 570 million BGN, he also said and added that a few days ago has begun implementation of the first railway project, financed under the Facility. The Minister pointed out that currently is successfully being implemented also a project to improve navigation on the Danube River, which is a joint project with other five Danubian countries.
Ivaylo Moskovski announced that the free resource, for which proposals are currently being prepared, is approximately 210 million BGN. The National Railway Infrastructure Company plans to apply for two projects - development of railway junction Plovdiv and modernization of the railway section Voluyak - Dragoman. Their total value is more than the available resources in order to ensure full use of the available resources. The Road Infrastructure Agency is currently preparing a project for modernization of the motorway Kalotina – Sofia, as by the deadline in February 2017 the projects will be submitted for approval", said Ivaylo Moskovski.
