We have successfully finalised the negotiations and have now selected a contractor for the delivery of 35 electric multiple unit trains. This was announced by the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov during the Green Transition Forum 4.0. The rolling stock will be purchased with Recovery and Sustainability Plan funds. The Polish company Stadler Polska Sp. z o.o. was chosen as the contractor. The proposed price is BGN 642.5 million and the delivery period is 28 months.
The Ministry of Transport and Communications switched to contracting without prior notice for the supply of 35 electric multiple units, given the complexity and specificity of the order. ‘All this happened according to clear criteria and methodology, which were similar for all 4 companies that came to the negotiations’, the minister was adamant.
Georgi Gvozdeykov stressed that efforts are being made to absorb all the financial resources under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan. ‘A contract has already been signed for the manufacture of 9 shunting locomotives which will be needed for the depots’, the minister recalled. The first locomotive is already ready and its arrival in Sofia is expected next week.
A contract was signed in April for the delivery of 7 double-decker trains, with the possibility of ordering 3 more to bring the number to 10. "The main issue now is the procurement of 20 push-pull trains, which are for long distance. We are currently negotiating with the EC, and our wish is to replace the type of trains with one that can be produced in a shorter time. We are already on the brink technologically with the production time, but we will do our best to save these funds as well’, the minister further clarified.
He told the participants in the forum that Bulgaria will be able to realize almost 100 million leva financial resources for the construction of electric charging stations on the road routes that are part of the TEN-T network. Half of the funds will go to build charging stations at the Danube and Black Sea ports.
Minister Gvozdeykov pointed out the urgency of solving the problems with freight traffic in the country. ‘This case will not disappear even when we enter the land Schengen because Bulgaria has not taken steps in the past to build buffer parking lots’, Georgi Gvozdeykov said. He called on the representatives of the transport industry to jointly look for ways to solve the issue, as well as possible options for European funding for this initiative.
