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Bulgaria's Lyulin Highway Progresses Rapidly

Wednesday, Jun 30, 2010

The Bulgarian Regional Minister Rosen Plevneliev announced Tuesday that the “Lyulin” Highway is 62% ready.

“For the first three years of its construction, the “Lyulin” Highway was only 32% ready. The government, the Parliament and the country have united so that we can finish this project with dignity,” the minister said.

The Lyulin Highway is supposed to become Bulgaria’s first completed highway. The 19-km road will connect the capital Sofia with the Daskalovo road junction near Pernik.

The construction of the Lyulin Highway started on January 31, 2007, and the 19-km road was supposed to be completed but numerous issues have led to a sizable delay.

Bulgaria’s Regional Minister expressed his hope that by the end of the week the Parliament will adopt the 2010 Revised State Budget Act, which provides additional BGN 63 M for the construction of the highway by the end of 2010.

Plevneliev explained that Bulgaria should adopt EUR 142 M of EU funds by the end of the year. In his words, if this does not happen, the country will have to give back all the EU funds it has received for the project.

The minister also explained that all constructions on “Lyulin” Highway should be done by May 15, 2011 when the one-year warranty period begins and added that if by that time the highway is not finished, the executive company will have to pay the state EUR 14 M penalties.

“We are done with all the drama surrounding “Lyulin” Highway,” Plevneliev said.

The minister has also said that the “Trakiya” Highway is waiting for approval from the EC. In his words, the application has been sent two weeks ago and the whole process for the approval is expected to take up to 6 months.

“We are constructing Lot 2 and we are ahead of the schedule,” Plevneliev said, adding that the financing of the highway has already been provided by the EU funds.

Bulgaria’s Regional Minister also expressed his hopes for receiving the construction permit for Lot 3 by the end of the week and for signing the documents with the executive company in the beginning of next week.

Plevnelieve said he hoped the construction of Lot 3 of “Trakiya” Highway could begin by August 2.

Source: novinite.com