site.btaBulgaria and Eight Other Member States Ask EU to Support Completion of Infrastructure Projects

Bulgaria and eight other EU member states of Central and Eastern Europe signed a Declaration on Necessary Measures at European Level Allowing the Completion of Infrastructure Investments, the Transport and Communications Ministry in Sofia reported on Thursday. The signing took place at a meeting of the EU Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council, which is underway in Luxembourg on June 2-3 in the configurations of Transport and Telecommunications.

The other signatories are Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Deputy Transport and Communications Minister Vladimir Varbanov affixed his signature to the declaration on behalf of Bulgaria.

The document says that the crisis caused by COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine has brought about a sharp rise in the prices of fuels, energy and construction materials, has disrupted supply chains, and has deprived the market of useful Ukrainian labour. As a result, contractors have difficulty completing infrastructure projects on time and staying within the agreed expenditure limits.

These challenges can be resolved by revising investment plans, extending the deadlines for projects co-financed by EU structural funds, increasing the allocations for transport programmes and adjusting EU co-financing agreements to the changing situation, the press release said.

The meeting was attended by European Transport Commissioner Adina Valean, who expressed support for the proposals in the declaration.