Bulgaria to grant concession contracts for Sofia, Plovdiv railway stations

Concession contracts for the central railway stations in Sofia and Plovdiv will be awarded by the end of 2006, said transport minister Petar Mutafchiev.
The government is likely to hire a consultant for the concession procedures, said the official.
One of the options under review is to offer a package between one big and one small railway station, said Mutafchiev.
The annual maintenance bill for the Plovdiv railway station is 15 mln levs.
In addition to the 2 railway stations, the government will also sign over for management under concession arrangements the Maritsa, Struma and Cherno More motorways and the modernisation of airport and harbour infrastructure, says the government program for the implementation of priority infrastructure projects through 2015.

The concession procedures for the Rousse airport and the port terminals in Vidin, Rousse and Tutrakan (on the Danube) will be launched by the end of the year, said Mutafchiev.
The modernisation of the 204 km Sofia-Karlovo-Zimnitsa and the 135 km Rousse-Varna railways, with a combined tally of 3 mln euro, will also be flagged off by the end of 2006.
The 51 km Sofia-Dragoman, the 48 km Sofia-Pernik-Radomir and 236 km Mezdra-Gorna Oryahovitsa railway roads will also be renovated over the next couple of years.
A total of 887 mln euro have been allocated for the construction and reconstruction of road infrastructure in 2007-2009. The EU Cohesion Fund will provide 593 mln euro of the amount while the rest will be local co-financing. The cited amount will be invested in the reconstruction of the Kardjali-Podkova and Vidin-Montana roads as well as in a section of the Hemus motorway.

The government has estimated that the construction of the 114 km Maritsa motorway could kick off in 2007. The facility should be ready in 2009. The road links Parvomai and the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint on the Turkish border.
Work on the Struma motorway, linking the capital with the Greek border, will get underway in 2008 and be completed 4 years later.
The 95 km Cherno More, linking Varna and Bourgas, motorway will be built in 2014-2017.