Minister Vows Swift Completion of Parvomai-Svilengrad Rail Line

Bulgarian caretaker Transport Minister Nikolina Angelkova has vowed to fast-track work on the Parvomai-Svilengrad railway line.

Angelkova, who is conducting an inspection of large-scale railway infrastructure sites, commented Tuesday that half of the activities under the project had been completed, adding delayed construction permits were among the irregularities detected under the scheme.

She was adamant that there was no risk of a loss of EU funds under Operational Program "Transport" by end-2014, stressing that the activities under the projects had to be fast-tracked in order for them to be completed by end-2015.

Angelkova, as cited by econ.bg, declared that the extension of talks with creditors of the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) company was a key priority, as well as receiving notification by the European Commission about granting state aid to the company.

She reminded that BDZ currently owed a total of BGN 600 M to creditors and banks.

Bulgaria's caretaker Transport Ministers also expressed hopes that the EC would give the green light to the state aid for BDZ.