Systematic appeal of tender procedures for railway projects incurs risks for Operational Program Transport and Transport Infrastructure 2014-2020, announced Galina Vassileva, Head of the Program managing authority, at the ninth session of OPTTI Monitoring Committee, 29-30 May, in the town of Pravets. She further added that there is an urgent need to amend the Public Procurement Act or the state runs the risk of losing significant resources under EU funds by 2020.
Vassileva commented that at present, there is no contract signed for construction along the railway section Elin Pelin-Kostentes and the project has been under appeal for 11 month now. “We identify the project as a risk one as the term of the program period is not enough for the completion of large-scale construction works along the railway line”, highlighted Vassileva, and added that only one of the three Lots could possibly be completed within the program period, while other two would be partially finalized.
“The second Lot of Plovdiv-Bourgas project is being implemented in time and the National Railway Infrastructure Company launched yesterday a tender for the section Orizovo-Mihailovo, which is the most complex one and envisages relocation of the line”, stated Vassileva. In her words, tenders for rehabilitation of several railway stations and construction of ETCS (European Train Control System) along the main railway lines in the country, are to be announced.
Concerning Lot 3.2 of Strouma highway, the Supreme Administrative Court dismissed three appeals on environmental impact assessment and project implementation could continue. A tender for construction is to be announced in short time.
“Despite the significant progress in the construction works along Lot 3.1 of the highway, their implementation could be at risk due to the parallel archaeological works”, noted Vassileva. Zheleznitsa tunnel could be completed by 2021 provided there is a subcontractor by 2018. The Head of the managing authority of the Program commented that the funds allocated along this priority axis (PA 2) exceed the available financial resource with almost 400 million euro, which calls for timely reaction.
Metropolitan EAD Executive Director, Stoyan Bratoev, took note of the progress of the project for construction of the third metro line in Sofia. He stated that construction works are carried out within the deadlines and the new 12 kilometers will be commissioned by the end of 2019. Bratoev commented further that at the beginning of June two out of 20 new carriages will be delivered to service the third line. The rest will be delivered systematically by the end of 2019. There is an ongoing tender for design of the extension of the third line to Slatina neighborhood. This section will include 6 km of metro lines and six new stations that will service some 140 thousand people.
Aurelio Cecilio, Head of Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia Unit at DG Regional and Urban Policy to the EC, stated that the Commission envisages update of the cohesion policies in the next multi-annual financial period, which would result in even greater resources for Bulgaria. The new policies are aimed at a more individual approach to reduce inequality and speed up the development of countries with lower growth. GDP per capita remains the leading criterion for fund allocation.
