October 18 (SeeNews) - The Bulgarian government on Thursday endorsed a 145 million euro ($206.7 million) loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for the construction of container terminals at the Black Sea ports of Varna and Burgas, in the east.
"With a state loan of 145 million euro will start the construction of container terminals at Burgas West and Varna East port terminals, " the government said in a statement.
The loan will be secured from JBIC and passed to the country's transport ministry, it added. The construction of the terminals is expected to begin next year.
They are needed to ease freight transit to European transit corridors. Varna and Burgas are the largest international ports in Bulgaria, which joined the European Union in January.
($ = 0.7014 euro)