Hemus Motorway, Four High-Speed Roads Are Part of Expanded Trans-European Road Network

Hemus Motorway and four high-speed roads
are already part of the expanded, updated Trans-European Road
Network (TERN), Regional Development and Public Works Minister
Rosen Plevneliev told a news conference with Prime Minister
Boyko Borissov on Thursday.

This will save Bulgarian taxpayers at least 2,000 million euro,
Plevneliev said.

He also said that negotiations on updating TERN between the
European Commission and the Member States had been completed at
the technical level. The EC will draw up the roadmaps by June 30
and will make a conclusive political decision approving the new
updated expanded TERN. Projects and application forms should
start to be prepared.

Plevneliev said the high-speed roads are Rousse-Shoumen,
Varna-Dourankoulak, Rila, and Plovdiv-Asenovgrad-Roudozem. The
motorway and the high-speed stretches, which cost a total of
2,500 million euro, were to be financed from the public purse.
Now as part of the updated TERN, 80 per cent of the financing
will come from the EU funds, Plevneliev said. Bulgaria has
submitted to Brussels a national plan specifying priority road
projects, a transport masterplan, a transport strategy, Danube
Strategy projects and a National Development Programme.

The EC gave the premier award to a pilot project for housing
rehabilitation of the Ministry and UNDP, Plevneliev said.

Borissov recalled that two years ago all EU financing was
suspended over findings that the director of the Road Executive
Agency had favoured projects carried out by his two brothers.
"The difference is easy to spot - Minister Plevneliev and his
team were awarded first prize," Borissov said. He pointed out on
the map the roads on which work is under way, saying that they
would boost development and investments in backward regions.
Businesses go where communications are, the Prime Minister said,
explaining why the government sets a priority on road
construction.

He also said that Lyulin Motorway would go into operation in
about 15 days.

Answering a question, Plevneliev said that next week Ministry
representatives, journalists and opposition MPs would take
samples from Trakia Motorway at places chosen by the media. The
samples will be analysed by independent laboratories and the
results will be out in three weeks. This was prompted by
opposition allegations that substandard materials were being
used in the construction of new roads.

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