Some 78% of the funds under OP Transport have been agreed, but just 4% - disbursed

“About € 1 bn under the Operational Programme (OP) Transport have been agreed, which is 78% of its total budget and this is a kind of a record,” said yesterday Minister of EU Funds Management Tomislav Donchev, who attended a business breakfast for discussion of measures aimed at accelerating the absorption of EU funding. Donchev added that only 4% of the agreed amounts had been paid out, but he expected that the rate would increase substantially. According to the Minister, a focus only and just on the quality of projects implementation is needed now. He predicted that, by mid-next year, some 100% of the resource for the railways would be agreed.

“Measures, ensuring sufficient resources, both for road and the railway infrastructure, under OP Transport after 2014, should be taken,” said Donchev. According to him, the interest in the Bulgarian railway sector needs to be developed - whenit comes to entrepreneurs and passengers alike. For this reason, investments are needed both in the infrastructure and in carriages and machines. “Given the successful rehabilitation of the lines, we will have a good reason to ask the European Commission for funding for the purchase of locomotives and cars.” 
The amount of money, which we will be able to negotiate for the road and railway infrastructure, depends on the efforts, which Bulgaria will implement in the debate on the new Cohesion policy. The Europe 2020 strategy sets emphasis on the green infrastructure such as the railway one is.

“Bulgaria is one of the few EU member states, intersected by 5 European transport corridors, and we have a unique chance to use this advantage and to develop our transport infrastructure,” said Deputy Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski. He advised for the railway sector to be assessed more realistically, because, in practice, both the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) and the Bulgarian Railways (BDZ) were two bankrupt companies, and now every effort is being made for their restructuring and rehabilitation.

Прочети цялата новина

Свързани новини: