site.btaRegional Development Minister Reports on Major Road Projects in Parliament

Caretaker Minister of Regional Development Ivan Shishkov said that the construction of major infrastructure projects in Bulgaria - motorways and expressways in particular - is "going nowhere". During a hearing in the National Assembly on the progress of the construction of the road between Vidin and Kulata (the expressway between Vidin and Botevgrad and the Struma motorway), the Hemus and Black Sea motorways, he stressed that "Besides being energy poor, Bulgaria is also motorway poor."

In his words, Bulgaria needs at least another 1,200 km of motorways and expressways, which will cost about BGN 20 billion. "The most important thing is to find the economic way to build them. There is no way they can be completed in 8-10 years with the current funding approach," he warned the lawmakers with an appeal to look for different ways and sources of financing the construction.

Shishkov spoke in detail about the progress in each of the ongoing major road projects and the financing needed for their completion.