SOFIA (Bulgaria), June 26 (SeeNews) – The European Commission said it has proposed to provide 110.85 million euro ($123.9 million) to finance three infrastructure projects in Bulgaria under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
The Commission said in a statement it has selected for funding projects for the development of Plovdiv railway node, the modernisation of a road connecting Sofia with Kalotina, on the Serbian border, as well as studies related to the final design for the completion of the basic infrastructures of Port of Burgas and of its rail connections with the Orient/East-Med Corridor.
The Commission has recommended funding of 87.95 million euro for the Plovdiv railway project and 20.6 million euro for the modernisation of the Sofia – Kalotina road. The studies for Port of Burgas should be financed with 2.3 million euro, under the Commission’s proposal.
The projects were selected for funding via competitive calls for proposals under the CEF, launched on October 13, 2016.
The CEF is the EU's financial mechanism supporting infrastructure networks and has a budget of 26.25 billion euro for the 2014-2020 programming period.
The Commission’s proposal is subject to approval by the EU member states, represented in the Connecting Europe Facility Coordination Committee. The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for July 6.
Grant agreements with the beneficiaries are expected to be signed in the second half of 2017, the Commission said.
($ = 0.8945 euro)