SOFIA (Bulgaria), November 28 (SeeNews) – Bulgaria will aim to build a motorway connecting Veliko Tarnovo, in the central-northern part of the country, to Russe, on the border with Romania, by 2022, a government official said on Tuesday.
The cost of construction works of the motorway is expected to exceed 2 billion levs ($1.2 billion/1.0 billion euro), Doncho Atanasov, member of the management board of the government's Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) said in a video file posted on the website of public TV broadcaster BNT.
The city of Russe, a major port on the Danube river and a key road and railway hub is connected with Veliko Tarnovo with a main road where traffic accidents are common. The planned motorway, approximately 130 km in length, will become part of pan-European transport Corridor 9 stretching from Helsinki in Finland and Alexandroupolis in Greece.
Currently, the possible routes of the motorway are subject to public consultation, Atanasov said. A tender for engineering and construction works is expected to be launched in 2019, he added.
The construction of the motorway could be financed by future proceeds from road toll tax, according to Atanasov.
In October, RIA awarded a 150 million levs contract to a consortium led by Austria's Kapsch Group to develop and introduce electronic tolling system in Bulgaria. However, the procedure was blocked shortly afterwards by complaints from two unsuccessful bidders, Tollnet and BG Pat, according to data from the competition regulator.
The e-tolling system will cover 16,317 km of motorways and major roads in Bulgaria. Vehicles heavier than 3.5 tonnes will pay toll charges based on distance travelled, while charges for lighter vehicles will be set for periods of time.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)