Macedonia gets €46.4 million for construction of railway line to Bulgaria

Macedonia officially gets €46.4 million loan from European Bank for Development and Reconstruction for start of construction of Kumanovo – Beljakovce railway section that will connect us with Bulgaria.

Deputy PM and Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski and the EBRD’s Director for Transport, Sue Barrett signed Tuesday loan agreement.

Stavreski said that the conditions under which EBRD grants the loan to Macedonia are significantly favourable with 15 year repayment period, 4 year grace period and interest rate which currently amounts 1.7%.

Railway to Bulgaria - A dead end.

The project foresees modernisation of this link - Section 1 of Macedonia Railway Corridor VIII - Eastern Section, Kumanovo – Beljakovce at length of 30.8 kilometres. The construction of section is to start in the first quarter of 2013 while field works are to be completed in three to four years. The tender for construction is to be announced next month.

This corridor will develop a transportation system that will contribute to increasing trade between Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria. It will improve both access and connection with neighbouring countries and thus increase the competitiveness and development of the economy, as well as communication with European countries, said Stavreski.

The EBRD’s Director for Transport, Sue Barrett, said, "Once the entire Corridor VIII is operational, it will give Macedonia a shorter route to Black Sea ports. It is also expected to stimulate the regional economy by making transportation flows easier."

The project is supported by a substantial grant funding totalling €4 million provided by the EU’s Western Balkans Investment Framework for project design, tender preparation and implementation assistance. Introduction of an energy management system will also be supported by a €175,000 grant from the Central European Initiative.

The project is also expected to stimulate reform in further areas such as track access charges being in line with EU rail sector guidelines and the commercialisation of non-core assets across the company. The project also envisages an energy efficiency programme to improve the energy performance of the company.

To date the EBRD has invested over €1 billion in about 80 projects in Macedonia.

Macedonia Promises Bulgaria Progress on 'Corridor 8'

Macedonia's government has agreed with Bulgaria's that the still imaginary project for Pan-European Transport Corridor No. 8 is a priority, the Bulgarian Transport Ministry announced.
Macedonia's new promises to help launch at last the transport corridor have come at a meeting of Bulgaria's Deputy Transport Minister Kamen Kichev with his Macedonian counterpart Tehir Hani.
Pan-European Corridor No. 8 – a parallel linking the Bulgarian Black Sea ports to the Albanian Adriatic ports via Macedonia along and its extension to Italy, a supposedly vital chain in the proposed shortest route between East and Central Asia and Western Europe – has been talked about for years with grand expectations for boosting trade and development in the Balkans – but has seen little realization.

Probably the most important obstacle for the project is the lack of a railway connection between Bulgaria and Macedonia, with the Macedonian state balking at the construction of several dozen kilometers of line on its territory.
Bulgaria's Deputy Transport Minister Kichev has presented to the Macedonian government the transport road and railway section under construction and/or rehabilitation in Bulgaria that are part of the proposed route of Corridor 8, the Transport Ministry in Sofia said.
These include the Trakiya Highway and the Lyulin Highway; sections from the Sofia-Burgas railway and the Karnobat-Sindel railway; and the modernization of Port Varna and Port Burgas on the Black Sea.
"The project for the construction of the Sofia-Skopje railway is of strategic significance both because it would connect the railway networks of the two states, and because it would held for the completion of the Corridor 8 route," Kichev told his Macedonian counterpart.
He further said the Bulgarian government needs to construct only 2.5 km of railway from the village of Gyueshevo to the Macedonian border.
"We are ready to build it right now if the Republic of Macedonia starts constructing their section," Milcho Lambrev, Director-General of Bulgaria's National Company "Railway Infrastructure.
"The Bulgarian Transport Ministry further says that Macedonia's Ministry of Transport and Communication "is in an advanced phase of the feasibility study for the railway line from Kumanovo to Deve Bair", the missing railway section on Macedonian territory.
"We are optimistic that we will complete the railway in 5 years," the Macedonian Transport Ministry is quoted as saying.