Nearly BGN 3 billion have been invested in infrastructure projects under the Operational Programme on Transport and Transport Infrastructure 2014—2020. This was announced by the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov at the final information event on the achievements of the transport programme. The Minister stressed that thanks to the European co-financing Bulgaria has been implementing projects for 18 years, which put the country on the map of Europe in a new way.
Investment in sustainable transport gives a strong boost to regional development and contributes to better, greener and safer transport. This was noted by Sofia Alves, Director of the Directorate for Administrative Capacity Building and Programme Implementation II at the European Commission. She added that a tree was planted in the square in Burgas as a sign of understanding and recognition of the important role that forests play for our own well-being. In the European Union, to ensure the quality and quantity of Europe's forests, institutions are committed to planting 3 billion trees by 2030, a process monitored through the MapMyTree app.
The Cohesion Policy will continue to support the development of sustainable transport infrastructure and improve road safety in Bulgaria by investing BGN 3.7 billion in large-scale projects — for a cleaner environment and fewer accidents, said Yordanka Chobanova, Head of the European Commission Representation in Bulgaria.
The Operational Programme on Transport and Transport Infrastructure 2014—2020 is one of the ten operational programmes in the country, which are financed by the EU Cohesion and Structural Funds. With funding from the programme, 70 km of new roads, 28 km of rehabilitated railway lines and 5 renovated railway stations have been built: Karnobat, Stara Zagora, Poduyane, Kazichene and Iskar. Another 12 km of metro lines with 12 new metro stations have been built under OPTTI, as well as the Zemlyane metro station. With the European co-financing, specialised machinery and equipment have been delivered to improve navigation on the Danube, security, integration and visualisation systems have been built in the ports.
The final information event was held in Burgas in the presence of residents and guests of the city, representatives of the central and local authorities, the European Commission, the Managing Authority of the programme and beneficiaries.
