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Bulgarian motorways construction, roads overhaul to be given boost - minister

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Regional Development Ministry will launch the reconstruction of 16 second and third rate roads across the country, while 15 other roads will be completed in June and July because of the existing financial surplus, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reported on May 31 2011.

The statement was made by Regional Development Minister Rossen Plevneliev, who informed the BNR of the plans for the impending construction of motorways and the renovation of existing roads across the country this year.

The ministry has saved about 150 million leva from the operative programme Regional Development, from the total budget of 500 million leva. The money will be used for the upgrade and in part, reconstruction of 16 roads, predominantly in northern Bulgaria, Plevneliev said. In all, 30 different road sections with a total length of 700km were envisaged for rehabilitation, the report said.

There were some complications regarding the construction of some of the motorways, according to Plevneliev, which stemmed from the fact that they passed through regions included in the Nature 2000 Programme, and as such, they have to be coordinated with architects and experts from other ministries.

Last month, it was announced that construction on one motorway in Bulgaria and four other major highways had been approved by the European Commission and are eligible to receive European financing.

Plevneliev said that the Hemus motorway and four other "speedways" - major roads with four lanes - have been approved as eligible candidates for EC financing. Those speedways have been planned between Rousse-Shoumen, Varna-Dourankoulak, Plovdiv-Roudozem and Doupnitsa-Ihtiman, Dnevnik daily reported on April 14 2011.

Technical negotiations regarding the expansion of the trans-European road network were completed by the European Commission on April 13.

"This means that Bulgarian taxpayers will be spared at least two billion euro," Plevneliev said after the negotiations, adding that the motorway and speedways were estimated together at about 2.5 billion euro in total. Initially, it had been provisioned that they would be financed by Bulgaria alone.

In all likelihood, EU funds will be provided during the next programming period after 2013, the report said.

Source: thesofiaecho.com