The Ministry of Transport starts negotiations with the strike committee of BDZ

“A meeting between representatives of the strike committees and the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Ivaylo Moscovski, will be held as soon as he returns from Germany,” stated officials from the press office of the department.

"I have ordered the management of the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) to start negotiations with the strike committee," said Moscovski on BNR. But representatives of the trade unions said that, so far, they have not received an official invitation for a meeting.

Moscovski left for Germany in order to negotiate with the German KfW bank which extended a loan to the company for the Siemens electric trams in 2007. The loan amounted to €156 mln and, over the past three years, payments for its reimbursement have not been remitted. The Minister also invited representatives from the trade unions to attend the negotiations. "The trade unions would not refuse a meeting with the creditors in Germany but the proposal of the Minister came a day before the departure and there was no way to organise the trip," said Peter Bunev, Chairman of the Union of Railwaymen at the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria. Moscovski is expected to return on Wednesday or Thursday and the meeting to be held immediately afterwards.

The trade unions want to suggest mainly that the company’s management should focus its efforts on increasing revenues instead of reducing activities and costs. Bunev said further that freight waggons should be repaired in order to carry more cargoes since BDZ benefits mainly from the rail service offered. The earnings from the sale of scrap are smaller.

Since the beginning of the strike, the losses from unrealised passenger transport have reached BGN 16,000 per day, while those from freight transport - BGN 100,000 -110,000, stated BDZ officials.

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