Liliana Pavlova: Because of the construction boom, we lack asphalt

Bulgaria is expecting a very big construction boom this summer.We are out of bitumen, asphalt and the stone building materials used by construction companies, stated Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Liliana Pavlova on the Sunday 150 radio show on BNR (Bulgarian National Radio). She announced that, on July 1, the EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn and the Prime Minister Boyko Borissov will cut the red tape and open Lot 2 of the Trakia motorway section from the town of Stara Zagora to Nova Zagora. During Hahn's visit, the construction progress on the other highways will also be discussed.

The high quality of the road construction is even more important than the construction deadlines. It is among my top priorities. That is why, I am travelling so much round the construction sites with the inspection teams. An average of 50 samples per day are actually taken as regards the inspection applied to the Trakia highway. Over 16,000 documents confirming the motorway's construction quality have already been issued. A newly-constructed 16 km-long highway section was demolished because we were not confident in its construction quality, clarified Pavlova.

In addition to the completion of highways, the construction of the secondary roads is also important to us because these represent 80% of the state roads. At the moment, 830 km of these are being rehabilitated, while a 250-km long section has already been completed. Another 900 km are being rehabilitated with loans borrowed from the EIB and from the budget. These are insufficient but we have been working hard and hope the effective result will be observed in the nearest future, commented the Regional Minister.

Over BGN 250 mln were refunded by the EU for the construction of the highways. Bulgaria will continue to need a substantial financial resource for the construction of roads in the next programming period because the basic infrastructure in Bulgaria still has serious needs and this will be part of the talks which Bulgaria will hold with the EU Commissioner Hahn. He will visit Bulgaria on June 30. His purpose is to hold a public debate on the EU Strategy for the Danube Region. The meeting will be held in the town of Vidin. Hahn will inspect the bridge Vidin-Calafat. At the discussion of the Danube Region Strategy, representatives of the non-governmental sector will be invited. The objective is to identify the needs in the northwestern region, which should be included for financing in the next programming period. Many projects must be implemented in the region. The EU Strategy for the Danube Region must be filled with content and with the appropriate funding, rather than representing another document of good wishes, commented the Regional Minister. We will insist on being allocated a special reserved budget for this region in order to enable it to comply with our demands, rather than always calling it the poorest, added Regional Minister Pavlova.

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