May 18 (SeeNews) - The completion of all priority railway projects in Bulgaria is estimated to cost 4.32 billion euro ($5.1 billion), transport minister Ivaylo Moskovski has said.
About 4.15 billion euro will be used for projects related to the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), Moskovski said in a statement on Thursday.
The remainder of 173 million euro will be used to finance an upgrade of the 123 km-long railway section Karnobat-Sindel, the minister said, adding that the section is very significant because it is connecting Bulgaria's largest Black Sea ports of Varna and Burgas.
Some of the projects will connect Bulgaria's railway network to the networks of its neighbours and those investments will boost growth and security of the whole region, Moskovski said.
The modernisation of railway section Vidin-Sofia, part of Europe's Orient/East-Med Corridor has an indicative value of 2.3 billion euro. The upgrade of the section is planned for 2022-2027. The section connects the country's northwestern region with the capital.
Another north-south railway section, which should be completed by 2027, connects Sofia with Kulata crossing on the border with Greece. Its modernisation will cost an estimated 1.22 billion euro.
The upgrade of the railway section from Radomir via Gyushevo to the border with Macedonia, which is 90 km long, has an indicative value of 477 million euro. The modernisation of the railway linking Voluyak to the border with Serbian border via Dragoman is to be completed in the period 2022-2025 and will cost about 132 million euro.
($ = 0.85037 euro)