Bulgaria is looking to upgrade its transport infrastructure network in order to take full advantage of its position as a major trade crossroads and is pushing ahead with a series of projects to improve road, rail, maritime and air links. The country’s transport sector has been hard hit by the ongoing international downturn, with falling domestic industrial activity reducing demand for freight haulage, while slowing international trade is cutting into transit traffic revenue.

On May 11, Bulgaria’s National Statistical Institute issued its latest report on industrial production, which showed a 17.1 per cent year-on-year decline as of the end of March, with manufacturing production down 24.1 per cent. With the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicting that the Bulgarian economy will contract by 3.5 per cent this year and a further one per cent in 2010, it could be a long road back to positive territory for the country’s transport sector.

Though calls on the Bulgarian budget have increased due to the recession, there is an urgent need to boost spending to stimulate short-term growth and ready the economy for longer-term expansion, according to Transport Minister Peter Moutafchiev. "We have to be ready to be able to meet the development of the economy after the crisis," Moutafchiev told local media on May 18.

The Government has determined that the priority projects for the transport sector are developing the intermodal terminals in Bourgas, Varna, Russe, Sofia and Plovdiv; improving airport infrastructure; and upgrading the country’s rail network so trains can run at speeds of up to 160km an hour, he said. Bulgaria’s ports would also be modernised through schemes directly funded by the state and through public-private partnerships, he said.

The best prospects for funding lie outside Bulgaria. The European Commission (EC) unblocked some of the funds it committed to supporting Bulgaria’s drive to improve its transport infrastructure. In mid-May, the European commissioner in charge of regional policy, Danuta Hubner, and Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister in charge of EU funds, Meglena Plougchieva, signed an agreement under which the EC would release $160 million for transport infrastructure development. Specifically, the funds will be used to pay for the construction of the Lyulin highway that will link Sofia and Pernik, as well as to provide technical assistance for the preparation of projects within the pan-European transport corridors.

More at: Sofiaecho.com