The Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov met today with BDZ and NRIC employees from all over the country. The main topics of the talks were remuneration and working conditions in both companies, as well as issues related to staff shortages.
The meeting was organized on the initiative of Minister Gvozdeykov in connection with numerous complaints and signals received from railway employees.
Georgi Gvozdeykov explained that the Budget 2024 will seek opportunities to gradually update salaries, provide work processes with more modern equipment and improve working conditions in all divisions in the country.
"One of the reasons for today's state of the railways is that there has not been enough effective analysis and long-term solutions to the problems in the two companies," the minister said. According to him, since 2017, nothing has been done in terms of the price at which the transport service is offered, and there should be a clear tariff policy so as not to operate at a loss.
Minister Gvozdeykov recalled that the investments under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan alone amount to BGN 2 billion, earmarked for the purchase of new rolling stock. At the same time, all rail infrastructure projects must be given a major boost. "The huge financial resources that have been directed to this mode of transport for years should be an incentive to change the vision for the development of the railway sector in Bulgaria," he added.
