Hemus motorway

Bulgaria?s Regional Development Minister Lilyana Pavlova has presented details about planned motorway construction in 2015.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said on Thursday the European Commission has approved EUR 2 B in financing under the 2014-2020 Operational Programme Transport for Bulgaria.

The approval opens the way for going ahead with major land transport infrastructure projects.

Bulgaria will seek a long-term loan from international banks for the construction of a 240-km section of the Hemus motorway, according to Regional Development Minister Lilyana Pavlova.

...

Ivaylo Moskovski, Bulgaria's Transport Minister, has said that the project for the Hemus motorway will be implemented under the Transport Operational Program regardless of the fact that it is plagued by a shortfall of BGN 500-600 M.

...

Bulgaria's caretaker Transport Minister Nikolina Angelkova will discuss opportunities for using EU funding for the Hemus motorway at a meeting in Brussels.

Angelkova is to meet with the new EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu on her first day in office at the European Commission.

Greek company Aktor, which is building Lot 4 of the Struma motorway, is to sign an annex to the contract by Friday, or have the agreement cancelled, according to Bulgaria's caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva.

Gazprom will build 20 new filling stations in Bulgaria by end-2016, according to Ivan Kostadinov, Genaral Mager of NIS Petrol Bulgaria.

NIS Petrol is 100%-owned by Gazprom Neft's subsidiary Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS).

Kostadinov, as cited by Trud daily, explained that the construction works would start in March or April.

Bulgaria's caretaker government is to decide Wednesday on allocating state funding of up to BGN 750 M for projects affected by an EU funds freeze under operational programs Environment and Regional Development.

The decision is to help cope with the crisis caused by the blocked EU funding.

The Struma and Hemus motorways are the main priorities under Operational Program "Transport", according to Bulgaria's caretaker Transport Minister Nikolina Angelkova.

In a Tuesday interview for Nova TV, she informed that all projects included in the program had to be completed and launched by 2022.

Lazar Lazarov, head of the Bulgarian Road Infrastructure Agency, has said that the construction of a Hemus motorway section may be temporarily suspended due to a funding shortage.