The Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Ivaylo Moskovski inspected the construction works on the railway line Septemvri – Plovdiv. The project is financed under OP Transport 2007 – 2013 and is divided in three lots.

About 30 per cent of physical implementation has been reached on Lot 1 (Septemvri – Pazardzhik). “In the summer the progress was 10 per cent, which was highly insufficient”, commented the Minister. Even greater efforts should be engaged in all the lots since the project has to be completed by the end of 2015.

Following the initial lag in recent months the construction of the section Pazardzhik – Stamboliiski has gained momentum and the physical implementation is about 20 per cent. Minister Moskovski inspected the modernized railway station in Pazardzhik. “Three years ago nobody in Bulgaria believed that financing the modernization of railway stations with EU funds was possible, while today all residents and guests of the city enjoy a newly reconstructed building”, said Minister Moskovski. By the end of 2015, the modernization of the stations in Sofia and Burgas also has to be completed, since they have been financed OPT 2007 – 2013.

About 35 per cent of the activities in Lot 3 (Stamboliiski – Plovdiv) has been completed. The construction of signaling systems along the section Septemvri – Plovdiv is ongoing, as well as telecommunications along the whole line from Sofia to Plovdiv, as 40 per cent of physical implementation has been reached.

“Even though there are no suspended payments under OPT, there are lags in most of the projects that I am inspecting”, said the Transport Minister. At present, there are no chances of losing funds under the Transport Program, yet all projects have to be finalized so as to absorb all of the available resources, which amount to about 4 billion levs. This conditions engaging all efforts on the part of the contractors and the beneficiaries, as by the end of 2015 some 1.4 billion levs are to be repaid.