SKOPJE (Macedonia), April 8 (SeeNews) – Macedonia expects the railway connection with neighboring Bulgaria, part of pan-European transport Corridor VIII, to become operational in 2022, the transport ministry said on Tuesday.
Transport minister Mile Janakieski provided no other details on the project in a statement on its website, but the Macedonian government said in March it had started a project worth 50 million euro ($68.6 million) for the upgrade of the 30.8 kilometre (km) Kumanovo-Beljakovce railway section part of Corridor VIII.
In eastern Macedonia, Corridor VIII includes two more railway sections - from Beljakovce to Kriva Palanka, with a length of 34 km, and from Kriva Palanka to the Bulgarian border, with a length of 24 km, whose upgrade will cost 144 million euro and 360 million euro, respectively, the ministry said earlier.
Corridor VIII, with total length of 586 km, runs from the southern Italian ports of Bari and Brindisi, through Albania and Macedonia to the Bulgarian Black Sea ports of Burgas and Varna.
($=0.7288 euro)