With an order of the Minister of Transport and Communications Mr. Plamen Petrov for members of the Board of Management of the national company Railroads Infrastructure are appointed Mr. George Nikolov - Executive Director of Executive Agency Railroads Administration, Mrs. Nahit Zia - Deputy Minister of Finances, Mr. Dimitar Zoev - Director of Transport Politics department, Mr. Lubomil Ivanov - Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications and Mr. Iliya Pastushanski - former Director of the Infrastructure of Bulgarian State Railroads. Mr. George Nikolov is elected for a Chairman of the Board of Management of the company and Mr. Iliya Pastushanski - for General Director of the Railroads Infrastructure.
Source: BTA (02.01.2002)

The reform in Bulgarian State Railways started successfully. The collaboration between both new companies - State company Railroads Infrastructure and Bulgarian State Railways SPJSC, is beneficial, announced at a press-conference the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communication Mr. Liubomil Ivanov. According to him the critical point after the division of the state company was passed
Source: BTA (10.01.2002)

The loss of BDZ JSC, the carrier company which was split from the former Bulgarian State Railways, will be BGN 29 million in the first year of its operation, down BGN 14 million from 2001. This is envisaged in the 2002 business plan of the company, which is currently drafted. According to the plan, the losses from freight transport will be some BGN 8.8 million, from passenger transport, BGN 20.2 million. The business plan of the carrier company has an optimistic and a realistic version. According to the optimistic draft, the company will transport 20.5 million tonnes of freight in 2002, while according to the realistic draft it will transport 19.3 million tonnes. The number of passengers is expected to be some 43 million. Railway Infrastructure JSC, the second company split from the national railways, expects revenues amounting to nearly BGN 150 million. Another BGN 20 million is expected to be received from leases and sale of equipment for scrap.
Source: BTA (14.01.2002)

On December 19, 2001 was signed the second contract for loan from European Investment Bank in amount of 70 million for financing of the modernization of the railroad Plovdiv - Svilengrad - Greek/Turkish frontier. The project is between Bulgaria, European Investment Bank and Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ). The contract was concluded on July 7, 1999. The deadline of the loan is 25 years, with gratis period 6 years and interest rate about LIBOR as its exact level will be defined at every tranche. The credit will be taken at 7 tranches.
Source: Construction City (18.01.2002)

60 are the companies that at the moment do not have the right to increase their funds for salary. Among them are BDZ SP JSC, NK Zhelezoputna infrastuktura, Bulgargas, NPS Kozlodui, WMZ-Sopot, Varna Shipyard and others.
Source: Pari (25.01.2002)

On March 11 in Sofia arrived three representatives of the financing institutions of the project "Renew and electric supply of the railway road Plovdiv - Svilengrad - Greek/Turkish frontier" - European Investment Bank and the programme ISPA. By March 13, 2002 the guests will meet representatives of the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the National Company Railways Infrastructure.
Source: Construction City (14.03.2002)

The Minister of Transport and Communications requested the resignations of the General Director of Bulgarian State Railroads Mr. Vladimir Dunchev and of the General Director of National Company Railroad Infrastructure Mr. Iliya Pastushanski. The reason for the resignations are the insufficient financial results of both companies
Source: Capital (10.06.2002)

Over 700 km lines of the secondary railroad network of Bulgaria will be closed. The offer of the Ministry of Transport and Communications soon will be submitted for approval in the Council of Ministers, announced the Minister of Transport and Communications Mr. Plamen Petrov. According to him our State has a quite big railway infrastructure - totally 4300 km. But it is not necessary to be mantained the whole State, said Mr. Petrov.
Source: Standart (25.07.2002)

The biggest railway stations in Bulgaria - Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Bourgas, Gorna Oryahovitza and Ruse, will be turned into business-centres, announced the Director of State Company Railroad Infrastructure Mr. Iliya Pastushancski. Bulgarian and foreign investors will be invited for participation on concessions or long-term use of the area .
Source: Novinar (14.10.2002)

1700 people from the National Railroad Infrastructure Company and another 1700 from the national carrier Bulgarian State Railroads will lose their jobs by the end of the year, announced the Directors of the infrastructural company. The reducing of 10 per cent of the personnel of the company affected mostly employees who had worked in the closed or limited as of the beginning of October second-rate routes, explained the General Director of National Railroad Infrastructure Company.
Source: Duma (12.11.2002)

Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) will lose between BGN 3 and BGN 5 million from the 1-hour stop of trains because of the protests of the company for infrastructure, announced the Executive Director of BDZ Mr. Vladimir Dunchev. He explained that the company will put forward a claim against National Company Railway infrastructure for missed benefits.
Source: Dnevnik (28.11.2002)

Bulgaria's railway carrier BDZ will be restructured and split into two separate enterprises for passenger and freight transport. This was announced by the Deputy Minister of Transport Lyubomil Ivanov yesterday. The idea for uniting BDZ and Railway Infrastructure, which was promoted by some MPs, cannot be discussed at all because it contradicts the Railway Transport Act, Mr. Ivanov added. According to preliminary data, the losses of the two companies for 2002 will amount to some BGN 55 million: BGN 40 million for the carrier company and BGN 15 million for the infrastructure one. The situation is better than in 2001 due to the closure of 342 km of second-class lines and the restructuring of BGN 127 million due to the budget into own capital of the company.
Source: Pari (27.02.2003)

Mr. Georgi Neshev, the new Director of Bulgarian State Railways, has previously worked in Cyprus-based Irish-Russian offshore company as a Financial Manager, according to his CV. Yesterday, he was officially introduced to BDZ’s manager team, and afterwards had a meeting with the Minister of Transport. He has graduated transport management in Svishtov, and his last appointment was as a Chief Expert in Real Estate Department of the executive agency, which controls the private state ownership in the Ministry of Defense.
Source: Duma (04.04.2003)

Competition protection commission allowed the granting of a state aid as a non-monetary contribution by a transfer of property right from Railroad infrastructure to Bulgarian State Railways BDZ in amount of BGN 1 266 212, 20.
Source: Dnevnik (10.09.2003)

The building, in which is situated the major department of the railways in Sofia will be sold. At the moment the building is occupied by the two companies BDZ and National company Tailway infrastructure. The building on Ivan Vazov 3 Str. is private state-owned property.
Source: Pari (29.09.2003)

Mr. George Popov, former Executive Director of Bulgartabac Holding, is going to head the State Property direction in the national commission Railway Infrastructure. Mr. Popov will come in the position of Mr. Anton Ginev, who has been dismissed. Mr. Popov, who is currently abroad, denied this information.
Source: Pari (07.10.2003)

Bulgarian Railway Infrastructure, which was detached from Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) will organize new competitions and tenders for letting out for rent of the stations' trading areas, Mr. Hirsto Gaydarov - Executive Director of the company announced. Currently, the rents were symbolic, and the stations looked like rag-fairs.
Source: Novinar (08.10.2003)

All companies, under the authority of the Ministry of Transport received a letter from the Deputy Minister Mr. Nikolay Yankov with the recommendation to have conversations with the private company Bulgarian Rating Agency for concluding contracts for analysis and evaluation of the financial and trade risks in their work.
Source: Sega (19.01.2004)

Ministry of Transport is planning to invest EUR 6.5 million in the new railway station in Rousse. The implementation of the project is expected to start by the end of February.
Source: Sega (05.02.2004)

Two Bulgarian companies with serious experience in the field of railway transport are preparing offers for private railway carrier. According to Pari sources, some of the potential candidates in the competition are LUKoil and Rei Holding. So far, however, no company has officially submitted its documents in the Ministry of Transport. According to unofficial sources again, at least one license will be issued by the end of the year with the consent of Minister of Transport Mr. Nikolai Vasilev. In December 2003, the Ministry invited 110 Bulgarian and foreign companies, registered in Bulgaria, to take part in the procedure. Mr. Vasilev said the issuing of a private railway carrier license was one of the 50 measures for the rehabilitation of the railway sector in Bulgaria.
Source: Pari (19.03.2004)

The state shall spend BGN 2.7 mln of the 2004 budget for more than 5 000 people who shall be dismissed this year from the privatized Kremikovtzi JSC – Sofia and Bulgarian Telecommunication Company JSC – Sofia and Bulgarian State Railways SP JSC – Sofia, Bulgartabac Holding JSC – Sofia and Wasov's Machine Plants SPJSC – Sopot. This is stipulated in the New Possibility for Professional Development program developed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. It is concerning only these enterprises. Stara Zagora cigarette factory also shall discharge 200 people and Slantse-Smolian SPJSC – Smolyan – another 175.
Source: Dnevnik (13.04.2004)

The Government and IMF have agreed to limit to 5 per cent the general state account on the salaries in 60 public companies, which are monopolists, and which have received subsidies or have registered a loss in the third quarter of last year.
Source: Trud (03.06.2004)

National Company Railways Infrastructure SC – Sofia is indebted with BGN 7.168 mln for VAT, BGN 5.247 for corporate tax and BGN 9 mln to National Social Security Institute GO – Sofia. The greatest drop behind is in the payment of the obligation to the construction companies. National Company Railways Infrastructure SC – Sofia owes BGN 8.5 mln to Transport Constructions and Recovery State Enterprise SC – Sofia, and BGN 4 mln to SK-13 Transstroy JSC – Sofia and Transstroy-Varna JSC – Varna.
Source: Standart (17.06.2004)

Among all state-owned enterprises, excluding Bulgartabac Holding, the biggest average monthly wages in Bulgaria are those in the energy sector. The leader in this respect is NPP Kozloduy, where the average salary is BGN 816, according to 2003 data, followed by the national gas monopolist Bulgargas – BGN 740. Non of these enterprises can be compared with Bulgartabac, where the average monthly wage is a little over BGN 2000.
Source: Sega (25.06.2004)

National Company Railways Infrastructure SC – Sofia shall demand on BGN 230 million as a state subsidy. The General Manager Mr. Dimitar Gaidarov announced this on his meeting with Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulga NGO – Sofia and Podkrepa-Confederation na truda NGO – Sofia. BGN 120 million were declared for 2003 but the budget granted just BGN 30 million. The company’s reform is completed.
Source: Standart (07.07.2004)

Thirteen companies have already applied for preferences under the new Investment Encouragement Act, Pavel Ezekiev, CEO of the Bulgarian Investment Agency (BIA), said. The new regulations become effective Wednesday, August 4. One of the companies that will enjoy preferences under the new act is Turkey's Sisecam, which recently broke ground for its glass works in Targovishte. Sisecam will make the largest ever green-field investment in Bulgaria, amounting to USD 160 million. The company has already received a state aid: state-owned Railway Infrastructure has allocated BGN 500,000 to the construction of a 2,020-metre line linking the enterprise with the train station in Targovishte. The railway will be used for transportation of raw materials and ready goods. To be eligible for preferences candidates have to obtain investment-class certificates from BIA on the basis of investment plans. The first such certificates will be handed in September. According to the implementing regulations for the Investment Encouragement Act, first class investments include projects exceeding BGN 100 million. Second class is given to projects ranging between BGN 50 million and BGN 100 million. The third class includes projects between BGN 10 million and BGN 50 million.
Source: Pari (04.08.2004)

The Ministry of Culture will be allotted a total of BGN 10 million for making new films, reconstructing the building of the Youth Theatre and gasifications of schools of arts. Another BGN 10 million will be set aside for supplying schools and universities with PCs, building of TV- centres and hot spots for wireless access to Internet. The money was allotted from the budget surplus. Yesterday, the Cabinet distributed BGN 146.5 million from the overperformance in revenues in 2004 to ministries and institutions, Governmental Spokesman Mr. Dimiter Tsonev released. Two months earlier, BGN 260 million were allotted. The expenditures have been concerted with the IMF. The biggest sum, BGN 94.5 million is granted to the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works to overhaul roads and highways, to upgrade water-supply and border checkpoints. BGN 7.5 million are allotted to the Ministry of Environment and Waters for water-supply. The Ministry of Economy will be granted BGN 6 million. Of them, BGN 1 million are slated for road signs to historical and cultural sites of national importance and BGN 5 million, for promoting tourism. The Justice Ministry is allotted BGN 3 million to build a single information system to tackle crime. The Council of Ministers is granted BGN 10 million under the budget of district administrations for building small sites of regional importance. A 4- or 5-panel working party will decide upon the distribution of the remainder of the budget surplus after holding talks between NMS and MRF coalition partners, Minister of Finance Milen Velchev said. Minister Velchev insists the IMF to give the go-ahead for spending of yet another BGN 200 or BGN 300 million from the overperformance in revenues, expected to stand at BGN 1 billion.
Source: Standart (15.10.2004)

Sofia stations Pioneer and Serdika are to be sold. The first estate in Dianabath was evaluated for BGN 22-24 million, and the second one – for over BGN 40 million. The money will be used for repairs on the railways. A bid for 51 facilities owned by National Company Railways Infrastructure is impending by the end of the year.
Source: Standart (25.10.2004)

National Company Railways Infrastructure will construct a 1100 km long optic network for data transfer till 2010, the company’s CEO Mr. Dimitar Gaidarov announced. By the end of 2004, a decision should be made whether a joint venture with a strategic investor should be established, or a self-dependent company to be detached, or an infrastructure company to lay the optics alone. Almost all of the European equipment manufacturers and Bulgarian telecommunication companies as well are interested in the project, Mr. Gaidarov announced.
Source: ComputerWorld e-Daily (26.10.2004)

Nine companies have submitted offers in the first auction for the reconstruction and modernization of the railway line Plovdiv-Svilengrad. The offers were opened yesterday. On June 25, Ministry of transport announced competition for selection of executor of the 37-km long section Krumovo-Parvomay. Most candidates are international consortiums, as well as three consortiums with Bulgarian participation. They are the consortium between Âàlfour Beatty and Glavbolgarstroy, TAMSA – between TSO s.a., Athena s.a. and Moststroy JSC, and Consrucoes and Technicas Ferrofiarias s.a. /Efaces Engenharia s.a./Instalaciones Inaben s.a. and Transstroy-Varna.
Source: Pari (05.11.2004)

The Council of Ministers decided to grant BGN 5 mln for repairs of the National Company Railway Infrastructure. The money will be provided from the budget surplus.
Source: Standart (12.11.2004)

Local railway carrier BDZ registered a BGN 2.5 mln profit for the third quarter of this year, the state-owned company reported. This is the first positive financial result, posted by the group since 2001. For the first nine months of 2004, however, BDZ registered a loss of BGN 14 181 mln. For the whole year 2003, the financial result was a loss of BGN 33 mln, compared with a loss of BGN 45 mln in 2002.
Source: Standart (16.11.2004)

The national company Railway Infrastructure will already be allowed to sell immovables used and managed by it, the government decided yesterday. The decision concerns mostly the closed railway lines and those with changed category. The properties will continue to be managed by the company, except for a part of them located in Pomorie and Sofia, which will be added to the capital of BDZ SP JSC.
Source: Pari (19.11.2004)

National Company Railway Infrastructure has concluded a contract under a public procurement with Desislava-2001 SPLTD – Sofia for the delivery of 4 193 liters diesel motor oil, at the total contract value of BGN 4473134.33 (VAT not included).
Source: Other (23.11.2004)

The Sofia station Pioneer and the Pomorie station Pomorie will be in-kind contributed in the capital of Bulgarian State Railways, the company’s CEO Mr. Nasko Tzanev announced. The decision has been made on the last Thursday meeting of the Council of Ministers. It is expected the Court to estimate both stations before the railway company’s capital increase. Pioneer and Pomorie stations were managed by National Company Railways Infrastructure so far.
Source: Dnevnik (24.11.2004)

Acting on a surprising proposal by finance minister Milen Velchev, the government decided to set up a new state company called Public Investment Projects (PIP) on 260 mln levs from the budget surplus. PIP will build and repair roads, railway tracks and implement various energy efficiency and environment-protection projects, replicating the functions of several existing structures like the Road Executive Agency and the National Railway Infrastructure Company. This is the only mechanism by which the budget surplus can be invested in the infrastructure rather than in redundant current expenditures with no tangible results, Velchev told Dnevnik. The resources of the new company will go for infrastructure projects that cannot be implemented on private funding. The go-ahead for PIP coincides with the completion of the latest mission of the IMF fund here. Last Thursday, December 16, during the final press conference given by IMF mission leader for Bulgaria Hans Flickenschild, Velchev said that the government may decide to indulge in discretionary expenses exceeding the cap of 1% of GDP agreed on with the IMF and may utilise another 250-300 mln levs by December 31. IMF data shows that this year's budget revenue overperformance will stand at some 3.3% of GDP, or 1.3 bln levs. Therefore 1% of the GDP is expected to add up to 400 mln levs. Under the state budget legislation, however, the surplus has to be transferred to the fiscal reserve in the beginning of the year. The economic directorate of the government has objected to the proposed creation of the new company, arguing that the money should be spent in compliance with the Public Procurement Act, and that strong competition in the construction sector renders unnecessary the establishment of such an entity. The transport ministry, too, was caught off guard by Velchev's proposal. Deputy prime minister Nikolai Vasilev openly objected to it, participants in the cabinet meeting said. Vassilev himself was not available for comment on Monday. Officials from the regional development and public works ministry, too said that were baffled. The scheme by which funding will be approved for different projects too remains unclear. The creation of PIP would be the third time that the government has reached deep into the budget surplus pot this year. The ministers allocated 270 mln levs in the summer for schools, hospitals and road works and another 300 mln levs in the autumn for financing of six industries.
Source: Dnevnik (21.12.2004)

Bulgaria's National Railway Infrastructure Company opens a public procurement procedure for design, construction, supply and installation of six escalators and five panorama lifts for Sofia's Central Station. The contract also includes dismounting of 13 existing escalators. Offers can be filed until February 18, the term for execution of the contract is December 31, 2005. The winner will be chosen three months after submission of offers at the earliest. Candidates have to pay a BGN 20,000 guarantee for participation in the tender and a performance guarantee amounting to 5% of the agreed value of the contract. Bids will be accepted from producers, distributors and traders. The offers will be ranked by price. Research has shown that the cheapest esclators cost BGN 200,000 to 250,000. The funding will be provided by Railway Infrastructure. In September 2004 the company opened a tender for design of the station's building and surroundings but the procedure was shortly after cancelled, as it was not clear whether the central station would be revamped completely or just repaired. Just before New Year's Eve, vice premier and transport minister Nikolay Vassilev said the overhaul would cost some BGN 15 million. Financing will be probably sought from Public Investment Projects, the new company that the cabinet decided to set up with BGN 260 million from the budget surplus for 2004.
Source: Pari (06.01.2005)

The repair of the railway station Parvomay, assigned by the head of the National Company Railway Infrastructure Mr. Dimitar Gaydarov to the company AT Engineering 2000, is executed illegally, says the preliminary report of the State Public Internal Financial Control Agency (PIFCA). The preliminary report for the audit started after a signal has been ready on January 24. The unofficial information says that magistrates have asked the PIFCA to make the audit and the Agency has confirmed the founded violation. The Agency stated that the repair was assigned by direct negotiation as urgent. The National Company Railway Infrastructure conducted tender procedure but it was just a formal one.
Source: Pari (08.02.2005)

National Company Railway Infrastructure stipulates modernization of the railway Brusartsi – Lom because of interest declared by the Greek Railway Company. The construction of double railway where the speed will reach 160 km/h is stipulated. The preliminary data shows that the total project’s budget is EUR 16-23 mln.
Source: Pari (10.03.2005)

National company railway infrastructure opened a tender for development of project for modernisation of the central Sofia railway station. Another BGN 1.1 million will be extended to the enlargement of the main underpass of Rousse station, northeastern Bulgaria. A BGN 224,000 tender has been called for delivery of cementing materials for construction of railways, while another BGN 263,000, distributed in several tenders, will be spent on various parts needed for the building of railways.
Source: Pari (21.03.2005)

National Company Railway Infrastructure announced in the State Gazette the most important public procurements for oncoming repairs of its facilities. BGN 700 000 will be allotted for the project for reconstruction and modernization of Sofia Central Station.
Source: Pari (21.03.2005)

Amendments in the Telecommunications Act oblige the public telecommunication operators, such as BTC, to pay for using the railway equipment for their networks. The draft has been prepared by the transport ministry and will be put forward in the Council of Ministers in a few days. So far the Act said that public operators had the right to construct or expand their networks crossing roads and other infrastructure after a permission of its owner. The amendment draft however says that the railway infrastructure particularly may be used only under a contract, concluded with the National Company Railway Infrastructure.
Source: Sega (04.04.2005)

Evrometal, co-owner of the Pernik-based Stomana Industry, and U.S. company Kingston Enterprises announced on Tuesday, April 5, that they have bought a debt of BGN 60 mln owed by National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC), the infrastructure-managing division of state-owned railway carrier BDZ, to national electricity grid operator NETC. The debt cession deal was sealed two months ago and Evrometal has already remitted several debt repayments. NRIC will settle its obligations towards Evrometal stemming from the contract over a two-year period at a fixed interest rate of 7%. The liability is collaterised with a special pledge on NRIC's future proceeds from the sale of real estate properties, of the facilities comprising the Pazardjik-Varvara and Oryahovo-Cherven Bryag railway sections and of 5,824 carriages. The disused railway carriages will be recycled as scrap metal by Evrometal. The debt bought by Evrometal and Kingston Enterprises was accrued more than three years ago before BDZ was restructured and split into two companies, one in charge of passenger and cargo haulage and another managing the railway infrastructure.
Source: Dnevnik (06.04.2005)

The European Commission (EC) has sent its stand on the selection of a contractor for the reconstruction of the Plovdiv-Svilengrad railway line in Bulgaria, the PARI daily learned. Sources said the letter with Brussels' decision had been already received by the transport ministry. The latter, however, explained it was still waiting for EC's stand. Meanwhile the participants in the procedure received two different faxes, on one and the same day, by deputy transport minister Sofia Kassidova, who is currently in Brussels. The first urged candidates to extend the term of their bank guarantees by a month until May 20. The second fax, sent just two hours later, told them not to extend the guarantees. Experts say that could mean two things: either the EC has confirmed the transport ministry's choice to name Greece's Terna winner of the tender, or Brussels has decided to terminate the procedure. According to unofficial information, the EC is more likely to cancel the tender and leave the new procedure to the next government. If the tender is terminated, Bulgaria may fail to absorb the funding for one of its biggest infrastructure projects, amounting to EUR 340 million. Finance ministry sources say the term of the EUR 150 million memorandum under ISPA for the line expires at the end of 2005, while a new procedure simply cannot be finalised before this year's end. Bulgaria will again be the loser if Terna is approved, specialists claim. As the PARI daily wrote in January, the Greek company has no experience in such projects and the repair is very likely to be of poor quality. This may delay its implementation and make it more expensive.
Source: Pari (19.04.2005)

A total of BGN 10 million are needed for emergency recovery of Bulgaria's railway insfrastructure, which was damaged by recent torrential rains, initial evaluations of the Executive Agency Railway Administration show. Transport and communications minister Nikolai Vassilev sent letters to prime minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and finance minister Milen Velchev requesting reviewing the funds extended by the Commission for Protection of Population. So far, only BGN 200,000 have been extended for the recovery of a destroyed section of Sofia-Varna railways.
Source: Pari (11.07.2005)

The Bulgarian company Discordia JSC is considering to apply for a license for private railway transporting. The company was established in 1992 and has a capital of BGN 200 000. In the beginning of 2004 the Minister of trasport Mr. Nikolai Vasilev gave the first national license for private railway transporting to Bulgarian Railway Company JSC, which gave BGN 20 000 for the license, and the annual fee that it has to pay to National Company Railway Infrastructure SC is BGN 3 mln. . Another company for private railway transporting, but with regional significance, is the Rousse company Bulmarket-DM LTD.
Source: Monitor (20.07.2005)

National Company Railway Infrastructure SC offered for sale two lots in Dobrinishte, Bansko Municipality. Until the first of August, tender shares for tender participation will be on sale. The tender itself will take place on the fourth of August, from the company reported. Both lots are situated in the area of Dobrinishte railway station. In order to participate, candidates should deposit BGN 5.1 thousands for the first lot and BGN 2.7 thousands for the second lot.
Source: Pari (25.07.2005)

3 per cent of the population in Bulgaria have been giving up BTC annually over the past 2-3 years. This is read in this year’s report of the Applicable Researches and Communications Foundation about Bulgaria’s development in the information community sphere. The people forsake their home fixed phones as they don’t have the ability to pay the increasing monthly charge and the short distance calls, the research stated. A part of the subscribers switch to the mobile operators preferring the pre-paid cards allowing them to be asked for without paying anything. Another parts of BTC’s clients turn to the alternative telecoms. By 2008 the new operators of fixed service, which are currently 13, will take away some 50 per cent of BTC’s international calls, 20 per cent of the long distance ones, and 6 per cent of the short distance, providing revenues of BGN 100 mln, the analysis said. Almost all of the big infrastructure companies such as Bulgargaz, National Electric Company, Overgas, National Company Railway Infrastructure, etc. have been constructing national networks for internal needs, for leasing, and offering telecommunication service at the market.
Source: Novinar (01.08.2005)

The railroad infrastructure in the regions affected by this year's summer floods will need BGN 237 million for recovery; while another BGN 128 million will have to be allocated for the repair of the road network, representatives of the Ministry of Regional Development said. The removing of all damages cause to the country's railroad infrastructure may take two years, outgoing transport minister, Nikolay Vassilev, said. The bulk of the damages to the national road network was caused by the floods of the recent days. Experts have calculated that the damages caused by the rainstorms of August 5-7 reached BGN 105.7 million, as compared to BGN 22.8 million damages inflicted by the May-July floods.
Source: Pari (10.08.2005)

The final value of damages to Bulgaria's road infrastructure will exceed BGN 200 million, regional development and public works minister Assen Gagauzov said in Smolyan. The damages from the floods in the beginning of August alone stand at BGN 176 million. The ministry has already requested some BGN 120 million for recovery of roads across the country, Gagauzov added. According to last data, the flood damages of the railway infrastructure from the first days of August are evaluated at BGN 157 million. However, the sum does not include the funds required for strengthening and building walls against landslides. Transport minister Peter Mutafchiev said that the railway traffic in the region of Veliko Tarnovo will be restored by August 26. Some BGN 1.2 million is necessary to restore the infrastructure in the region. The problematic railway sections near the railway junction of Gorna Oryahovitsa are 11. According to Mutafchiev, the railway traffic between Sofia and Plovdiv would hardly be fully recovered by mid-December, as this railway has been seriously damaged.
Source: Pari (22.08.2005)

The national company "Railway Infrastructure" suffered flood losses estimated at BGN 237 million (about EUR 120 million), Vice-Minister of Transport Anelia Krushkova siad. In August alone the company lost BGN 157 million, while the damages in July are worth BGN 80 million. The re-channeling of flood-stranded passengers to bus carriers cost to BDZ (state railway company) over BGN 200,000 a day, said BDZ CEO Nasko Tsanev. The recent floods badly damaged or completely destroyed a total of 96 railway sectors, Krushova specified.
Source: Standart (23.08.2005)

The Karlovo – Bourgas rail way was launched after a break of 25 days. Exactly in 12 am yesterday the teams of National Company Railway Infrastructure NC resumed the traffic along the Kazichene – Musachevo – Yana/Stolnik section, which is a part of the Sofia – Karlovo – Karnobat – Sindel line.
Source: Standart (31.08.2005)

BDZ and National Company Railway Infrastructure expect to cope with the delay in salary payment in December. The directors of both companies Mr. Nasko Tzanev and Mr. Dimitar Gaydarov promised this to the transport minister Mr. Petar Mutafchiev. In a way to do this, a new plan for financial recovery of the two companies should be adopted to the end of September. The chart, mentioned in the collective labour contract, stipulates the wage for the current month to be granted up to 20th number of the next month, and the advanced payment should be made between 10th and 15th number of the month.
Source: Sega (13.09.2005)

The obsolete taxis in Bulgaria will head for the scrapyard. From the next year on, all cabs older than 15 years will be banned from motion. The restriction is provided under the amendments to the Road Transport Act, Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Peturneychev said. The amendments are triggered by stricter safety requirements. They are aimed at reducing the number of illegal taxis, which is quite large at present. Former Minister of Transport and Communications banned the obsolete cabs from motion with a special ordinance, but it was revoked by the Supreme Administrative Court.
Source: Standart (19.09.2005)

Friday, representatives of the railway syndicates of Central and Northeastern Bulgaria met in the town of Gorna Oryahovista to discuss the strategy for solving the accumulated problems because of the delays in wages payments. They are not satisfied of the agreement signed between National Company Railway Infrastructure, Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) and the Ministry of Transport, saying that the payments will be set under a special schedule to the end of the year.
Source: Borba - Veliko Tarnovo (19.09.2005)

Changes in the boards of directors of almost all transportation companies have already been decided, the PARI daily found out. Insiders informed that the deputy transport minister Yudjen Atilla will become a member of the directors' board of Sofia Airport. The present director, Kalin Barzov, will remain a member of the airport's board of directors. Kalin Barzov ha allegedly received support from the ex-transport minister, Nikolay Vassilev. Plamen Stanchev is expected to replace Barzov in the future. The representative of the Sofia municipality in the board of directors, Dilyana Sechanska, will also keep her position. The management of Air Traffic Service Authority has also been changed, although its director, Tsvetan Dilov keep his position. Up to now, no changes have been made in the management of Bulgaria Air. Experts predict no major transformations there.
Source: Pari (20.10.2005)

The funds stipulated for the construction of the railway Vidin-Kalafat along the Danube Bridge 2 and the money for the electrification of the railway Plovdiv-Svilengrad will be shuffled to another projects, the Government decided yesterday. The reason is that these projects have been delayed and we should use the funds by the end of the year, ministers said. Thus BGN 17 mln will be re-directed for pressing repairs of the destroyed by the floods railway infrastructure in Bulgaria.
Source: Standart (21.10.2005)

For a second time within a week, a Bulgarian state-owned company has opted to revisit a supply deal with German concern Siemens. After Siemens' 11 mln euro equipment deal with the thermal power plant in Varna was scrapped earlier this week, national railway carrier BDZ announced on Thursday it will revise a contract with the German company for the supply of 25 diesel engines. The new BDZ management said the purchase does not make sense because the engines can travel at their designed top speed of 120 km/h only on the Zimnitsa-Karnobat and Semptemvri-Plovdiv routes. Siemens has already delivered 14 trains, another 6 are being road-tested while the hand-over of another 3 is forthcoming by the end of '05. The 67 mln euro train deal is 80% loan-financed by KfW and Nordbank with BDZ chipping in the remainder. A cancellation of the deal would cause a huge row given the calibre of the supplier and the fact that a letter of political support was granted for the additional contract to deliver another 25 trains to BDZ, Dnevnik was told by a BDZ source on the condition of anonymity. The struggling BDZ posted a loss of 8 mln levs in January-September. The company owes a total of 242 mln levs to various suppliers, including 67.6 mln to the national railway infrastructure operator, 9 mln levs to oil company LUKoil and 31 mln levs to the national electricity grid operator. The format chosen for the spin-off of BDZ's infrastructure and haulage operations into separate companies was not the right one, said newly appointed BDZ CEO Oleg Petkov, recommending other options like a holding or a consortium with private shareholders.
Source: Dnevnik (28.10.2005)

Bulgarian transport minister, Mr. Petar Mutafchiev made an inspection of Sofia–Plovdiv railway line in the Ihtiman–Septemvri section. The line was repaired after the summer floods. The recovering of the 8,200 m section and the equipment cost some BGN 26,814,000, the head of the National Company Rail Infrastructure, Mr. Dimitar Gaydarov said. He added that for the total repair of the railway BGN 237 mln are needed. Now possibilities for receiving credits from the World Bank for the full recovery of the railway infrastructure in the whole country are being searched.
Source: Standart (17.11.2005)

The general director of Bulgaria's National Railway Infrastructure Company, Dimitar Gaydarov, will be most probably discharged within a month, the PARI daily learned. According to insiders, the possible dismissal is prompted by tip-offs about breaches in the award of repair works. Most of the violations established by the State Internal Financial Control Agency (SIFCA) during the term of the previous government were connected with award of contracts for urgency repairs by direct negotiations, rather than by public procurement procedures. Despite the tip-offs, ex-transport minister Nikolay Vassilev did not dismiss Gaydarov from office. A week ago the current minister, Petar Mutafchiev, issued an order re-appointing the general director, though the board of directors' chairman was replaced.
Source: Pari (12.12.2005)

National Company Railway Infrastructure cannot pay under the cession National Company Railway Infrastructure can not repay its debt under the cession contract with Eurometal, transport minister Mr. Petar Mutafchiev said. He admitted that the cessioner has pressed for the repaying of the debt. In his words, talks with Eurometal will continue after the holidays. They don’t have money to pay and we have received only BGN 1 mln so far, Eurometal CEO Lyudmil Stoikov commented. He explained that he had sent several warning letters to the infrastructure company to start performing its obligations. In his words, distraint of bank accounts may be imposed as an extreme measure. Mr. Stoikov said he doubted that it would be necessary. So far Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) has rendered only 500 wagons for scrap, saying the company needed them, he explained. In March 2005 the company, BDZ and the National Electricity Transmission Company (NEK) signed a cession contract under which Eurometal and the US company Êingston Enterprises bought BGN 60 mln of debt of the infrastructure company to NEK. This equals the annual state subsidy figured in the 2006 budget that the company is to receive. Under the contract the infrastructure company will repay its debt to the Pernik-based company within 2 years at the fixed interest rate of 7 per cent.
Source: Dnevnik (03.01.2006)

EU allots 133 million euros to Bulgaria for ecology and transport. Seven financial memorandums under the program ISPA for the total sum of 183.22 million euros were signed yesterday. The non-repayable aid from the European Commission amounts to 133.19 million euros. The co-financing by the state budget is 20 million euros. The rest of the money comes from credits from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and from the European Investment Bank. The money will be used for the improvement of the water supply networks in Sofia, Sliven, Bourgas (southeastern Bulgaria), Rousse on the Danube and Kyustendil (southwestern Bulgaria). Two of the projects are for the modernization and rehabilitation of the railway line Vidin (southwestern Bulgaria)-Sofia and sections of the railway lines Plovdiv-Bourgas and Mezdra-Gorna Oryahovitsa.
Source: Standart (12.01.2006)

A consortium between France's Louis Berger and SISTRA has been chosen as supervisor of the project for reconstruction and electrification of the Plovdiv-Svilengrad railway line in Bulgaria. According to sources, the consortium has been already approved by the European Commission's delegation in Bulgaria. The decision gives the green light to the start of design and construction of the first stage of the project: the stretch between Krumovo and Parvomay. The launch of the project has been so far delayed by the lack of supervisor, though a contract for construction was signed with Greece's Terna in the summer of 2005. The selection of the French consortium breaks the Greek monopoly over the project, where the building and consultancy have been awarded to Greek companies. More than 14 leading European companies and consortiums participated in the tender for supervisor, seven were shortlisted
Source: Pari (06.03.2006)

National railway carrier BDZ and the national railway infrastructure operator will dispose of assets with combined value of BGN 75 mln in 2006. BDZ will offer for sale real estate properties expected to fetch BGN 33 mln while the infrastructure operator will dump non-operative assets valued at BGN 43 mln. The infrastructure company plans to divest as much assets in 2007 as well.
Source: Dnevnik (08.03.2006)

The National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) will create a power distribution utility that will buy electricity directly from power grid operator NETC, Dnevnik learned from deputy transport minister Georgi Petarneichev. NRIC will be ready with the paperwork for the creation of the new company by the end of the month. If NRIC is allowed to buy directly from NETC, that would pare the monthly electricity bills by 12 mln levs, said Petarneichev. The savings made that way could be invested in upgrading the rail tracks to accommodate faster trains, said the official. NRIC intends to apply for a power trader licence which will allow it to sell electricity to private railway carriers. It is not yet clear form a legal point of view if the new company should apply for a power transmission licence. Only energy companies are eligible for such licence. Sources from the power regulator said that the problem with the participation of infrastructure companies in the electricity market should be solved with changes to the Energy Act.
Source: Dnevnik (05.04.2006)

Bulgarian and Turkish customs officers will check the documents and cargoes of the trains at a common border railway station, reads an annex to the agreement signed between the two countries yesterday. In the presence of Minister of Transport Petar Mutafchiev and his Turkish counterpart Binali Yildirim the document was signed by Erol Inan, Deputy General Director of the Turkish State Railways (TCDD), Oleg Petkov, CEO of the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) and Dimitar Gaidarov, head of National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC). After the start of the repair at the Kapikule-Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint the cargo trains will be directed to the station.
Source: Standart (13.04.2006)

Bulgaria's National Railway Infrastructure Company will invest 50 mln levs in '06-'09 to upgrade the railway linking Sindel, in the Varna region, with Karnobat, in the Bourgas region. The railway section is part of pan-European corridor no.8 linking Italian port Brindisi with the Black Sea. The upgraded railway will accommodate train speeds of up to 130 km/h.
Source: Dnevnik (23.05.2006)

Private executory officer entered with police to put Ecometal Engineering in possession of 2 decares property near Yana railway station. The company has acquired the land, buying Redki metali. The apprehensions of National Company Railway Infrastructure are that cables, which manage the railway transport, might be cut off and the trains to Central Railway Station-Sofia might be stopped.
Source: 24 chasa (02.06.2006)

The chairman of the parliamentary transport policy committee has suggested changes to the Railway Transport Act that will transfer the management of the nation's train stations from the National Railway Infrastructure company to state-run railway carrier BDZ. The transport ministry did not comment on the proposal. An infrastructure development program has earmarked the train stations in Plovdiv and Sofia for the award of concession deals.
Source: Dnevnik (03.07.2006)

The construction of an intermodal cargo terminal at the Poduyane train station in Sofia will commence in 2007, said the Bulgarian transport ministry. The EUR 17 mln facility, due for completion by May 2008, will process incoming containerised cargo which will be reloaded onto TIR trucks and vice versa. Poduyane was picked after a study conducted by the Canadian International Development Agency ruled out options in Sofia's Kazichene and Voluyak districts. The analysis of the Canadian agency shows that cargo travelling along European corridors 4,8 and 10 could be process in Sofia. The idea of the transport ministry is to build similar terminals in Ruse, Plovdiv, Burgas and Varna as well. The European Regional Development Fund will extend EUR 11 mln for the project with EUR 6 mln coming from the state budget.
Source: Dnevnik (22.08.2006)

Bad railway industry track. The railway crisis is about to obstacle deliveries and sales of big producers. The bad conditions of BDZ and the National railway infrastructure obstacles the heavy industry in Bulgaria. Some of the country’s biggest factories announced that their development plans are blocked as the commodity deliveries and output transportation is questionable as BDZ can not provide enough freight wagons and the sea ports do not have enough freight load potential. The director of the Branch Chamber of Ferrous and Non-. ferrous Metallurgy Ms. Politimi Paunova warned that there is chance of factory closings. The BDZ problem obstacles most of all Kremikovtzi, Stomana Industry, Cumerio Med, Lukoil, Kaolin, Bentonit, Gips, Metalsnab Holding etc. Those companies have agreements with BDZ for the transportation of 11 mln. tons hauls I 2006 but they require an average increase by 24.8% during 2007. Just for the transportation of the Kremikovtzi’s ores and metal output, the executive director of the company Mr. Dimitar Kuzmanov believes that about 1000 freight wagons will be needed. As BDZ could not supply more than 500, the factory has bought another 500 over the years. Thus BDZ is actually transporting Kremikovtzi’s hauls with its own freight wagon and has to charge less (the prices fluctuate between 2.71 – 4.95 EUR for 20 tons freight for 100 km.). The factory owned by the Indian Global Steel Holdings intends to buy as much freight wagons as needed plus its own locomotives. “We have submitted an application to acquire permission to become a private railway operator and we are still waiting for response”, said Dimitar Kuzmanov. So far the Executive Agency Railway Administration has not decided if it is a good idea to accept the company’s request. But there is a possibility if the application is turned down BDZ to lose its biggest client. Kremikovtzi is actually making 25% of all freight orders to BDZ. The other companies mentioned above also have a considerable share in all BDZ freight-list. Cumerio Med for instance has also bought its own special freight wagons for sulphuric acid transportation but has to respect BDZ’s freight plan. Cumerio Med does not transport the hauls on its own as it uses the services of Bulgarian Railway Company – a company owned by the former executive director of BDZ Mr. Vladimir Dunchev. Primarily we are transporting sulphuric acid through Pirdop-Varna-Razdelna and Pirdop_Bourgas routes with wagons provided by the client, said Dunchev. The number of trains is confidential. BDZ experts commented that Umicore and other mines also own freight wagons.
Source: Capital (30.10.2006)

Foreign railway carriers will be allowed to travel along Bulgarian railways and carry out international transport services between EU member countries, is envisaged in the amendments to Railways Transport Act passed in Parliament at second reading.
Source: Standart (02.11.2006)

A new structure at BDZ to be approved Some funds from the budget surplus to be invested for the purchase of new freight wagons and repair of the old ones and purchase of new railway rails are some of the investments that are planned by the Ministry of Transport and big companies in order to improve the railway infrastructure and business in Bulgaria. In December BDZ and National Company Railway Infrastructure will be re-structured, said the Minister of Transport Mr. Petar Mutafchiev. BDZ could not serve all freights transportation orders that are constantly increasing and this could a huge obstacle for some of the country’s major industrial branches, said the chairman of the Bulgarian Industrial Association-Union of Bulgarian Business Mr. Bozhidar Danev. Almost 3 000 freight wagons have to be repaired as soon as possible in order BDZ to be ready the expected increase of orders – for this repair works about BGN 75 mln are required while another BGN 70 mln are needed in order the locomotives to be repaired. At the meeting held at the Bulgarian Industrial Association-Union of Bulgarian Business hall-room the minister of transport and businessmen decided to appoint a meeting with the minister of finance if some funds from the special fund of the budget surplus could be used for the repair works of some locomotives and freight wagons. Starting December, BDZ will be separated in three divisions – for passengers’ transportation, freight transportation and locomotives. They will be funded by three separate accounts so this way a cross subsidizing will be avoided, said BDZ management representatives. National Company Railway Infrastructure will be divided to: a company that is in charge for the transportation regulation, maintenance and repair works of the railway infrastructure, telecommunications and electricity distribution. The budget for operating costs will be BGN 20 mln and taxes that BDZ has to pay for the usage of the railway infrastructure will be reduced. It is expected that all these changes will also reflect on the prices.
Source: Darik Radio (09.11.2006)

BDZ and the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) will be re-structured BDZ, the national railway carrier, and the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) will spawn 7 new divisions or companies by the end of 2006, transport minister Petar Mutafchiev said on Wednesday, November 8. BDZ will spin off into separate divisions passenger and cargo haulage and engine management. NRIC will incorporate an electricity transmission, telecom and traffic management outfits. The electricity transmission company will be in charge of the maintenance of the railway electricity network and will likely supply power to the train stations. The transport ministry would like to find investors for partnerships involving the telecom and transmission spin-offs. It has not yet been decided if the proposed new outfits will be corporate divisions within BDZ and NRIC or independent corporate entities. The separation of passenger and cargo haulage will enable the unbundling of their accounting and will put an end to the cross-subsidising. At the moment, the cargo traffic is subsidising the passenger side of BDZ's business.
Source: Dnevnik (09.11.2006)

Railways keep splitting up An entirely new structure of the Bulgarian railways will be prepared until the end of November, transport minister Petar Mutafchiev said. The two enterprises in the system, carrier BDZ and National Railway Infrastructure, will be split in three. In this way each company will take responsibility for the repayment of debts, the drafting of investment programmes and securing revenues. BDZ's separate structures will be in charge of passenger, freight and engine management. At any rate they have to be financially independent, Mutafchiev said. Railway Infrastructure will also be divided into three companies. They will deal with railways, electricity distribution, and telecommunications. Yet another structure, Traffic, will be set up until the end of January 2007 to unite the management of the carrier and the infrastructure. However, the new entity will not be a holding, Mutafchiev said.
Source: Pari (09.11.2006)

The new situation at BDZ does not seem to be any different than it was before Another reform in BDZ is on its way. Over the last six years this is the second attempt for reforms at the company. The first was in 2001 when the carrier and the infrastructure itself were separated in two different companies which the transport minister Mr. Petar Mutafchiev described as a mistake. Now the second phase of the reforms in BDZ plans to separate the passengers’ transportation, freight transportation and engines into three separate subdivisions. National Company Railway Infrastructure will also be divided into several subdivisions – trains, electricity distribution, telecommunications and railway road. The ex-cabinet headed by Nikolay Vasilev even developed a strategy for the reforms in BDZ. After all nothing really changed and the current minister say that in the past everything was done with political purposes only and without any real aim to achieve good economic results. It is about time the railway industry to wait for financial support by the country, said the chairman of the transport commission at the Parliament Yordan Mirchev. He things that all funds should not be allocated to projects that do not really increase the number of passengers or the quality provided by the carrier. He added that the available funds should be invested in the Vidin – Sofia – Plovdiv – Svilengrad, Plovdiv – Bourgas and Vidin – Sofia – Kulata routes. The major problem in the industry is the lack of enough freight wagons. For the first eight months in 2006 the freight haulage has increased by 5% compared to the same period in 2005. Kremikovtzi, Stomana Industry, Cumerio Med, Lukoil, Kaolin, Bentonit, Gips, Metalsnab Holding etc. are among the biggest clients of BDZ. Those companies have an agreement with BDZ for the transportation of 11 mln. tons freights during 2006 but they also require that in 2007 the total haulage volume to be increased by 24.8% on average. Or said in a different way for 2006 BDZ has a total haulage request of 21 mln. tons while for 2007 all clients will demand an average increase by 15%. Kremikovtzi believes that in order all it needs to be fulfilled about 1 000 should be available. As BDZ could not provide more than 500 the metallurgical company has already bought another 500 freight wagons. So over the last few years BDZ is transporting Kremikovtzi’s freights with its own wagons and is forced to charge the company less (prices are between EUR 2.71 – 4.95 for 20 tons freight 100 km. distance). The idea of the Indian-owned company is to buy at least another 500 wagons plus locomotives for them. BDZ owns 7 083 freight wagons but in order to be ready to serve all orders in 2007 it requires 8 550 wagons and another 15 locomotives. This means that the compnay needs 2 903 new wagons that are valued at BGN 75 mln. BDZ has already received a confirmation for a state loan amounting BGN 70 mln. The company is also planning to negotiate with other railway companies for wagon rent. BDZ assets: - 4500 out of 6000 railway rails should be repaired - 17 years now a second-hand rails are used - trains are forced to move with 15-20 km/h speed in about 600 sections - passengers’ and freight wagons are aged 25 years - low performance of the telecommunication system
Source: Dnevnik (12.11.2006)

Railway Administration Agency with a new director Mr. Simeon Ananiev was elected as a new director of Railway Administration Agency that is part of the Ministry of Transportation, agency representatives announced on Wednesday. He will take the position of Mr. Georgi Nikolov who decide to quit his position as he has reached pension age. Georgi Nikolov will continue to work at the agency as a consultant at the National Company Railway Infrastructure. Simeon Ananiev previously worked at the Transport Univesity Todor Kableshkov as a senior assistant. Ministry of Transportation representatives said that Ananiev has a very good experience in the railway industry. Between 1981 – 1988 he has worked different jobs within the railway infrastructure at Sofia vicinities.
Source: mediapool.bg (16.11.2006)

Bulgaria assigns top priority to Poduene cargo terminal The Bulgarian government Thursday designated national significance status to the intermodal cargo terminal that will be built near the Poduene train station in Sofia. The launch of the terminal, which will handle cargo arriving/departing by truck or train, is expected to alleviate the inner-city truck traffic. The Poduene train station was chosen for the EUR 44 mln terminal by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) over sites in Sofia boroughs Kazichene and Voluyak. Construction is due to kick off in 2007 and wrap in 2009. The funding for the first and second stage of the project will be solicited from the EU. The Bulgarian government will provide EUR 6 mln. The third and fourth stages of the project will be implemented after 2010. The company that will design the terminal facility should be picked by the end of 2006. The government intends to find a private investor for the project and to contribute to the venture the necessary land plots. CIDA estimates that the Poduene terminal can process cargo traffic from pan-European corridors 4, 8 and 10. Under Bulgaria's national infrastructure development strategy through 2016, intermodal cargo terminals are also planned for Ruse, Plovdiv and Varna where the projects will be implemented under public-private partnerships.
Source: Dnevnik (17.11.2006)

A new terminal worth EUR 44 mln to be built at Poduene Railway Station A new logistics terminal worth EUR 44 mln will be built at the Poduene railway station. It will be very important for the whole railway infrastructure. This terminal will be used for a switch of the kind of transportation. For example freights that are transported by freight wagons will be unloaded at the terminal and then loaded on trucks or the opposite. The sector operative programme “Transport” will provide the financing of this project. The preliminary researches over project realization are already completed. The construction works might begin in 2007. The forecasts are that at least part of the terminal to be ready for use until 2009.
Source: Monitor (17.11.2006)

What’s going on with our railway transport? Weird things happen at Bulgarian railway industry. After USD 180 mln were spent just for consultancies and reforms Bulgarian railway infrastructure still absorbs GN 100 mln annually of the country’s budget and this is not all. Instead of following the global consolidation trend and reaching a financial stability through modernization and introducing new services our railway companies continue to astonish the world with new strange “initiatives”. The railway business in Bulgaria is a strong monopoly. At one side big enterprises that want to use the railway freight transportation infrastructure are a few, as the leader is Kremikovtzi JSC. But on the other side there is BDZ which is actually performing freight transportation using state-owned railway infrastructure. The paradox is that the country prefers not to invest in the railway system in order to improve and modernize its ownership but to invest in a bankrupted railway carrier (BDZ) that has to pay certain taxes to use the railway infrastructure and those collected money might be invested from then on for improvements and modernization of the rails. Having in mind that the legislation treating the railway system is pretty decent, more than 5 years now the state administration can not put it into action. So the most appropriate question is who needs all this? It has always been a paradox. Out of 25 000 wagons and 256 engines owned by BDZ just 5 years ago, now there are not enough freight wagons for the regular freights required by the businesses. Now it is up to investing EUR 200 mln for a purchase of new freight wagons that are considered as a ineffective transport just as a result of inadequate actions and decisions of a certain minister who despite of his university education can not calculate that BDZ can not return the investment and than the new minister inherited this burden. Of course out of this situation everybody loses, especially the taxpayers. Now another BGN 200 mln are required from the country’s budget. These are money that should be distributed for pensions and social initiatives. And who is going to ask why 20 000 wagons were sold as scrap. Maybe someone has to check up the sell price of the sold wagons that now BDZ desperately needs. Rumors say that now BDZ is even considering buying used freight wagons. We can not skip the sudden thought that pops up that maybe the company wants to buy back those wagons that were just sold. Another topic is how all this reflects on the railway manufacturers. But what is really happening? BDZ and Railway Infrastructure want to split into smaller companies. New administrative bodies will be elected. And the new “financially independent” companies are planning then to sign a contracts between them allowing them to perform a cooperative activities at higher fees.
Source: Monitor (23.11.2006)

Bulgaria rail carrier, operator to set up 6 new divisions Bulgaria's National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) will spin off into separate divisions its traffic and railway management operations as well as communications and power transmission. BDZ, the nation's railway carrier, will spin off into separate units passenger and cargo traffic. The final draft for the post-split structure of the railway companies will be submitted for approval by the transport minister by Wednesday, November 29. The reshuffle of the corporate structure of the 2 companies aims to ensure the accuracy of cash flow information and to pinpoint the most cash-draining operations. In 2001, Bulgaria split the railway system into 2 companies - one in charge of haulage and one in charge of infrastructure maintenance. The move did not prove entirely successful as BDZ continued to sink into the red, almost doubling its liabilities.
Source: Dnevnik (27.11.2006)

EU funding to be sought for railway upgrade The transport ministry is preparing a programme for renovation of the Bulgarian railway transport with financing from the European Cohesion Fund, minister Petar Mutafchiev said in Rousse. In his words, Bulgaria's railway fleet is extremely outdated and the newest engines are 25 years old. Only eight engines have been upgraded for the past 15 years. As much as BGN 25 million current costs are budgeted for 2007, the amount envisaged for capital investments is BGN 80 million bigger than this year. In 2007 the government plans to restructure railway carrier BDZ and National Railway Infrastructure Company by dividing the activities in separate subsidiaries.
Source: Pari (27.11.2006)

Supervisor issues may delay key railway project The supervisor of the project for reconstruction and electrification of the Plovdiv - Svilengrad railway line has been left without an engineer, after the approved specialist quit a month ago, the Pari daily learned. The consortium chosen to supervise the construction works includes Spain's Typsa, France's Louis Berger and Systra, Greece's Trademico, and Bulgaria's Rubicon Engineering. Given the structure of the tie-in, it is difficult to find a competent engineer for the project, sources commented. That may seriously delay the first stage of the electrification, from Krumovo to Parvomay. The more so that the engineer has to approve the conceptual project of the contractor, Greece' Terna. The latter is not in a hurry to submit the project either.
Source: Pari (28.11.2006)

A joint railway station with Serbia to be opened Bulgarian Transport Minister Peter Moutafchiev and Serbian Minister of Capital Investment Velimir Ilic attend the launch into operation of a joint railway station at Dimitrovgrad. They are expected to sign rules to an intergovernmental agreement on border control and procedures in railway traffic.
Source: Darik Radio (04.12.2006)

Railway track Vidin - Sofa to be modernized The railway track Vidin – Sofia will be modernized with ISPA funds. The Ministry of Transport organized an international auction in order to select a contractor, which will develop the project. The railway track Vidin – Sofia – Kulata is part of the TINA and the Paneuropean transport corridor IV. It will be connected with the Danube Bridge II between Vidin and Kalafat. The auction also includes providing technical support for the realization of the project. 85% of the financial resources required for this project will be provided by the ISPA programme while the other 15 by the Bulgarian Government. The maximum predetermined budget is EUR 3.8 mln. The Ministry of Transport will accept candidates’ participation papers until January 15, 2007.The contract with the selected project will be signed in May 2007. The whole project must be completed within 24 months. In order to submit papers the candidates should have an annual turnover of at least EUR 10 mln over the last three fiscal years (each year). They should have at least 30 project developer experts. Another requirement is since 2001 all participating companies to have at least two completed projects valued at least EUR 1 mln. As this is an ISPA project companies based in the EU are also allowed to submit participation papers.
Source: Dnevnik (11.12.2006)

Railway carrier BDZ and the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC), both state-owned, will list for sale some 30 properties with a collective value of around BGN 100 mln in 2007. The government will discuss Thursday the proposal for the property disposals moved by transport minister Petar Mutafchiev. Among the more attractive of the properties that will be offered for sale are the Pioner, Serdika and Pomorie train stations, a 3.5 ha land plot in Sofia’s Iliyantsi residential district and the Dobrich North train station which will be sold together with a 3.0 ha land plot. The Pioner train station occupies 6.0 ha and is valued at BGN 24 mln. Serdika has an area of 5.0 ha and is valued at BGN 40 mln. The managements of both train stations acknowledged the immense investor interest towards the properties. BDZ expects proceeds of at least BGN 15 mln from the sale of 11 properties. The cash is earmarked for debt repayment and the repair of railcars. NRIC executive director Anton Ginev forecast proceeds of around BGN 80 mln from the sale of redundant properties. The money raised this way will be invested in the modernisation of the national railway network.
Source: Dnevnik (18.01.2007)

Bulk of BDZ cars fail EU standards Only 50 of the 1,311 railcars operated by state-owned carrier BDZ comply with relevant EU standards, the press office of the Bulgarian government said Thu, Jan 18. Some 100 per cent of the BDZ sleeping cars and 89 per cent of the first class coach cars are in bad repair. The 50 railcars in good shape were modernized on EBRD money. BDZ plans to retire 200 cars in '07. Currently 669 freight wagons are being used by the company. The lacj of enough freight wagons is the reason why BDZ could not serve all its corporate clients. In order to pay its debts to its suppliers the National Company Railway Infrastructure and BDZ started to sell assets. The National Company Railway Infrastructure is selling 27 properties expecting to accumulate about BGN 80 mln. The most attractive shortlisted properties are the railway stations Pioneer and Serdika. On the other hand BDZ is selling 11 properties for a total approximate value of BGN 14.3 mln. Among them are Pomorie railway station that is valued at about BGN 7-8 mln and 35 decares in Ilianci business and trade area. With half of the income the state-owned carrier will pay its debts to NEK while the rest will be used for freigh wagon repairs. According to the Ministry of Transportation preliminary calculations the total debts of the two companies in 2006 are expected to be BGN 424 mln, as BGN 126 - of the National Company Railway Infrastructure and the rest of BDZ. Since the beginning of 2007 BDZ has three subdivisions – for freights, passengers and engines.
Source: Dnevnik (19.01.2007)

BDZ to be divided into 7 companies BDZ will be divided into 7 different companies. This information was released from the Transport Minister’s report that was approved by the Government yesterday. The idea is by separation the railway business to become more financially stable. As separate companies every single one could participate easier for bank funding, explained Transport Ministry members. Currently BDZ has three subdivisions – in charge for the freights, passengers and engines. National Company Railway Infrastructure will be also divided – into 4 companies – in charge for the Train schedule management, Energetic, Train signals and telecommunication, Maintenance of the railway network. It is expected that the total debts of the two companies in 2006 are expected to be BGN 424 mln, as BGN 126 - of the National Company Railway Infrastructure and the rest (BGN 298 mln) of BDZ. Another source for fresh funds will be the sell of some properties owned by the two companies. Currently the National Company Railway Infrastructure owns 27 properties throughout the country that are ready to be sold. BDZ has shortlisted another 11 properties that could be sold. Their total value is about BGN 14.3 mln. BDZ owns 1 311 passengers’s wagons and most of them are not covering all EU requirements.
Source: Monitor (19.01.2007)

Spanish, Italian and German companies want to take big Bulgarian stations as Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Bourgas on concession, reported the Transport Minister Mr. Petar Mutafchiev after a meeting with the boss of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) Mr. Bozhidar Danev and representatives of the construction business of the implementation of the operating programme Transport, which will be financed by the EU funds. 55 per cent of EUR 3 bln, intended for Bulgaria from the EU, should be used for construction of transport infrastructure.
Source: Novinar (24.01.2007)

3 co's apply for railway carriage licences Global Rail Trans, wholly-owned by steel maker Kremikovtzi, Unitranscom and Gazprom Trading have notified their interest in cargo haulage licences to the Bulgarian railway administration, says a market overview for 2006 prepared by the transport ministry. Unitranscom is co-owned by SK Unifertrans and Burgas-based railcar maker Transvagon. No information was available on the ownership in Gazprom Trading. Kremikovtzi is one of the biggest clients of national railway carrier BDZ, accounting for 25 per cent of cargo haulage revenues. The transport ministry said the Global Rail Trans application has bee reviewed and the two-month response period is ticking down. The authorities have held discussions on the licensing procedure with the other 2 applicants. Railway haulage licence have been issued so far to Bulmarket and the Bulgarian Railway Company. The arrival of private competitors has squeezed the market share of former monopoly BDZ.
Source: Dnevnik (26.01.2007)

The National Railway Infrastructure Company will receive BGN 75.19 million state budget subsidy in 2007. A total of BGN 7.02 million will be allocated to the Sofia airport, while the Port Infrastructure Company will receive a EUR 20 million subsidy. Further BGN 12 million will be earmarked for encouragement of innovations. Some BGN 1 million will be allocated from the state budget for improving the competitiveness of the companies in 2007.
Source: Pari (26.01.2007)

Another three companies gain permits Three private companies have declared their interest at the Railway Administration Executive Agency that is part of the Ministry of Transport to get railway freight licenses. These companies are Global Rail Trans that is owned by Kremikovtzi, Unitranscom and Gazprom Trading. If they get the permits the total number of all licensed freight companies will increase to 5. Before that the Railway Administration issued licenses to the Rousse-based Bulmarket and to the Bulgarian Railway Company. The number of BDZ’s rivals is growing but most of the big clients still prefer to use BDZ’s services that is offering lower freight costs. That is why the big metallurgic companies have not signed contract with any private company so far.
Source: Pari (31.01.2007)

How Liydmil Stoykov acquired BDZ’s debt to NEK Bulgarian State Railways SPJSC – Sofia and National Company Railway Infrastructure SC – Sofia refused to name the sum that they have to pay Eurometal for the NEK cession. Eurometal is property of the recently arrested businessman Liydmil Staykov who was accused for acquiring EUR 7.5 mln from SAPARD programme while BDZ’s cession is one of the biggest deals that is offending Bulgarian state interests. Stoykov is among the most zealous supporters of President Georgi Parvanov and he took place in his election campaign last fall. At its first attempt to figure out the sum that the two railway companies owe Eurometal and the Delaware registered Kingston Enterprises, that Mediapool news agency made, BDZ said that this is their own cession and re-directed the media squad to NEK and National Company Railway Infrastructure SC. The second time when the media asked BDZ about the cession, the railway company answered that the case is currently in court and they have no right to release any information connected about it.
Source: mediapool.bg (16.02.2007)

Bulgarian state-owned railway carrier BDZ has sent a letter to national power grid operator NEK, proposing to settle some of its outstanding electricity bills with a the transfer of property assets. The negotiations on the settlement scheme are forthcoming. BDZ has not yet decided whether to auction off the assets and use the proceeds to pay its NEK bills or transfer the title to the power utility.
Source: Dnevnik (23.02.2007)

Greece's Terna, which has been chosen as contractor for the first stage of the reconstruction of the Plovdiv - Svilengrad railway line, will report to the parliamentary transport and telecommunications committee concerning the delay of the project, committee chairman Yordan Mirchev. The project supervisor will also attend the meeting. The modernisation of the line is supervised by an international consortium of Spain's TYPSA, France's Louis Berger and Systra, Greece's TRADEMICO, and Bulgaria's Rubicon Engineering. The Greek contractor will have to explain why the work on the Plovdiv - Svilengrad section has not begun yet. Strictly speaking, Terna is not responsible for the delay, because it only received a construction permit about a month ago.
Source: Pari (07.03.2007)

Bulgarian airports reported profits of BGN 46,2 million (EUR 1 = BGN 1.95) for 2006, which is a rise of 28,77 per cent compared to 2005, shows the report of Bulgaria's Ministry of Transport. Revenues of Bulgarian airports increased by BGN 17,4 million. The profit of the Sofia Airport grew to BGN 28,7 million for 2006 while the Bourgas Airport reported earnings amount to BGN 10 million. Bulgarian ports also reported higher revenues reaching BGN 8.66 million in 2006. Their profits stood at BGN 7.6 million, which is twice as much compared to 2005. The ports of Bourgas and Rousse reported profits of 2.8 million and BGN 2.39 million respectively. The Bulgarian State Railways reported a loss of BGN 27,7 million, a decrease of BGN 14,2 million compared to 2005. The loss of the National Company Railway Infrastructure stood at BGN 58,6 million, down by BGN 19,3 million compared to 2005.
Source: Standart (27.03.2007)

Czech companies keen to invest in railways Czech investors have presented their plans for joint operations with the Bulgarian railways to transport minister Petar Mutafchiev and the managers of carrier BDZ and National Railway Infrastructure Company. AZD Praha, ZPSV, OHL ZS and KPM CONCULT expressed intentions to delivery equipment and materials for the construction of railway infrastructure. Czech companies offered to invest more than EUR 300 million in the Bulgarian railways a year ago, but the transport ministry was not enthusiastic and the project never started, the chairman of the parliamentary transport committee, Yordan Mirchev, said. The desire of the Czech businesses to participate in the tenders for railway infrastructure will clash with the interests of German and Austrian companies. A tender for installation of signals on the Plovdiv - Svilengrad line is currently under way. According to unofficial information, Germany's Siemens and Austria's Alcatel are candidates for the contract.
Source: Pari (02.04.2007)

Kremikovtzi to rival BDZ from 2008 The metallurgical plant will be licensed as a private railway carrier Global Rail Trans, which is owned by Kremikovtzi, is the most likely winner of a private railway carrier licence. A total of three private companies showed interest in obtaining a license for rail freight transport. Unitranscom and Gazprom Trading were also willing to compete the state-owned carrier, BDZ, but only Global Rail Trans submitted documents, insiders said. The transport ministry's Railway Administration Executive Agency has asked Kremikovtzi to present additional information. According to knowledgeable sources, the very fact that the company has been admitted to the procedure means that the outcome will be positive, because all candidates are checked for compliance with the European requirements. So far the agency has issued two licences to private rail operators: Rousse-based Bulmarket and Bulgarian Railway Company. If granted a licence, Kremikovtzi will most probably begin operations from next year. The metallurgical plant has a contract with BDZ until the end of 2007. The transportation of products is essential for Kremikovtzi because of the increase in output. We do not want to break off relations with BDZ. The license is a B plan to us; it will allow us transport our products when BDZ cannot provide the necessary wagons, the chairman of Kremikovtzi's management board, Alexander Tomov, said. So far big cargo owners have avoided closing contracts with private rail carriers because the state-owned company offers better prices. The crisis in BDZ, however, has caused problems to industrial enterprises, because the carrier has been unable to secure enough wagons. Stomana Industry recently said it might switch to a private carrier if the problem persisted.
Source: Pari (12.04.2007)

The Sofia central train station could be leased for a period of 10 years after the State Property Act is amended accordingly, transport minister Petar Mutafchiev said on Wed. The transport ministry is expected to soon submit for approval to the government amendments that will increase the term of the lease from 5 to 10 years. Another option that is on the table is the award of a concession contract for the train station.
Source: Dnevnik (12.04.2007)

BDZ sells railway stations to buy new wagons The State plans to sell railway station’ spaces in order to accumulate enough funds to purchase new freight and passengers’ wagons said the Minister of Transport Petar Mutafchiev yesterday in Bourgas. Private companies are waiting for quite a long time the National Company Railway Infrastructure to call the attractive railway stations Pioneer and Serdika in Sofia and Stochna gara Plovdiv for sale. Currently only BDZ’s freight wagons are bringing benefit to the company but they are not enough to service all clients’s needs, explained the minister. “We need about EUR 2 bln fresh funds in order to reach the same level as in 1986, explained Mutafchiev, adding that for the last 15 years nobody has invested anything in the sector. Wages will be increased by 10% on April 1. There are not enough money for higher wages even if 10 strikes are organized”, said he.
Source: Trud (21.04.2007)

Italian company Astaldi offered the lowest price in the tender procedure for implementation of the second stage of the reconstruction and electrification of the railway line Plovdiv - Svilengrad. The term for submitting proposals to the transport ministry expired on Tuesday, May 15, but no officially information was released. The Italian company has proposed the lowest offer, EUR 162.5 million.
Source: mediapool.bg (16.05.2007)

A consortium of companies led by Austria's Alcatel has submitted the lowest offer of EUR 38.65 million in the tender procedure for the setting up of signalling and telecommunication systems along the Plovdiv-Svilengrad railway line. The consortium also offers an eight-percent discount, which reduces the bid to EUR 35.6 million. The bids were unsealed on May 31 but were not made public officially by the ministry of transport. The bids of the other four candidates for the project range between EUR 60 and 70 million, which makes Alcatel a favourite to win the procedure. A consortium lead by Italy's Ansaldo has submitted an offer of EUR 67.9 million. The consortium offers a 14-percent discount, which lowers the offer to EUR 57.8 million. A consortium of Bombardier and Czech AZD submitted the third lowest offers amounting to EUR 61 million. Germany's Siemens entered the competition jointly with its Bulgarian subsidiary Siemens EOOD. The offer of the two companies stands at EUR 64.286 million. A contract with the selected candidate should be signed by September 2007.
Source: Pari (05.06.2007)

The National Company Railway Infrastructure chases metal traders The National Company Railway Infrastructure will have to cancel all rent deals with contractors for scrap metal centers that are within its railway stations and rails’s range over the next month. The decision was made by company’s managing body and letters with all required actions that should be taken, have already been sent to each subdivision of the NCRI. As a response to these actions, the Bulgarian Recycling Association demands for new bans in cases of metal larceny. Currently the ban for a physical body is a 1 lock-up so the Association wants it to be increased to 3 years, while for the companies the set fine to be raised from BGN 700 to BGN 2000.
Source: Sega (04.07.2007)

3 banks in contention for EUR 120 mln BDZ bond loan Three unnamed banks have filed offers to provide EUR 120 mln in bond financing to Bulgarian state-owned railway carrier BDZ, said transport minister Petar Mutafchiev. The provider of the 10-year facility will be selected by the end of July. The debt will finance the payment of BGN 50 mln in overdue electricity bills and the repair of 1,200 cargo cars at a cost of EUR 40 mln. The carrier is facing a shortage of 2,800 cargo cars by the end of 2007 on the backdrop of forecasts that rail cargo shipments will rise by 3 per cent annually through 2017. BDZ said H1 cargo shipments totalled 5.1 mln tons with the average shipping distance falling from 231.4 to 176.4 km. A portion of the bond proceeds will be used to restructure old debts, refinance the loan for the purchase of Siemens trains and repay outstanding infrastructure charges. The carrier owed the National Railway Infrastructure Company BGN 90 mln at the beginning of 2007 and recently made a BGN 17 mln payment. Mutafchiev said the government should increase the subsidies for passenger traffic from BGN 88.2 mln to BGN 122.6 mln by 2017. The BDZ management admitted the cross-subsidising of passenger and cargo haulage.
Source: Dnevnik (10.07.2007)

The Bulgarian ministries of transport and defence have agreed on the terms for the transfer of title over the Plovdiv airport. The government is expected to officially redefine the status of the airport as public state property next week, paving the way for the award of a concession contract. The hiring of a private operator for the airport was previously snagged by the existence of a military site in the center of the development plan and disagreements with the private owner of the airport terminal. The transport ministry is currently in talks to buy the private owner of the passenger terminal out of the property. The facility is valued at BGN 8 mln but sources said the company is demanding a higher price. In related news, transport minister Petar Mutafchiev said there were plans to put a private investor in charge of the construction of an intermodal terminal in Plovdiv. German advisory company GTZ has prepared a feasibility study for the terminal. Turkey-bound transit shipments and cargo generated by local producers are expected to account for the bulk of the traffic via the proposed facility. The other option for the construction of the terminal, with an estimated cost of EUR 8-10 mln, is a joint venture with a private partner. Intermodal cargo terminals are also planned for Sofia, Varna, Burgas, Ruse and Dimitrovgrad.
Source: Dnevnik (10.07.2007)

Bulgaria's state-run National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) has applied to be issued an electricity trader licence in a bid to cut the cost of the electricity it currently buys from national power grid operator NEK, said the company's executive director Anton Ginev. NRIC has already registered Tren, a wholly-owned subsidiary that will be active in electricity trading and transmission. The infrastructure operator plans to sell electricity to household consumers and to consumers based in proximity to any of its train stations. The Bulgarian power regulator has so far licensed 24 companies to operate as electricity traders. Experts from the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission said NRIC is fully eligible under the local energy legislation but noted that if it wishes to sell to end-consumers, the company will have to unbundle its trading and transmission operations and register a subsidiary that will deal solely with electricity transmission.
Source: Dnevnik (11.07.2007)

The Renovation Of The Plovdiv-Svilengrad Rail Way Will Be Complete By The End Of 2010 The cabinet carried the agreements of Bulgaria, EIB and the state campaign for railway infrastructure which amend and confirm the financial contracts Bulgaria - Railway Project of the Transeuropean Netrwork (launched in 1999) and Bulgaria - Railway Project of the Transeuropean Netrwork Plan B (launched in 2001) and the former contract of 2001. The council of ministers submitted to The National Assembly the papers signed on February 27th 2007 for ratification. The two contracts with EIB regard the financing of the reconstruction and electrification of the Plovdiv-Svilengrad- Greek/ Turkish border rail way. The speediness will be optimised to 160 km/h. The low interest rate loan amounts EUR 150 million. There was certain delay of the project performance and some of the resources were not adopted by June 30th 2005. The now signed papers confirm the validity of the previous financial contracts and update the provisions in accordance with the reached settlement with the mostly involved parties - ISPA programme which grants EUR 153 million. The project will be complete within the realistic period until June 30th 2010. Thus the biggest infrastructure project in Bulgaria, worth more than BGN 700 million, on the territory of 2 regions - of Plovdiv and Haskovo, as well as 9 municipalities. The initial stage of the reconstruction and electrification works on the rail way from Plovdiv (the town of Krumovo) to Parvomai long 37.7 km were launched on May 25th 2006. The whole project is to be complete until the end of 2010.
Source: Zastrahovatel (27.07.2007)

Two more companies have asked to receive licences for trade in electrical power from the State Energy and Water Regulation Commission (SEWRC). Eko Elda Bulgaria and National Railway Infrastructure Company's Trend have requested 10-year licences. According to the regulatory commission, the two companies meet the requirement for financial guarantee of the closed electricity deals. At an open meeting next week SEWRC will discuss the reports on the requests.
Source: Pari (02.08.2007)

Greece's Terna is ready to complete the first stage of the reconstruction of the Plovdiv - Svilengrad railway line on schedule, transport minister Petar Mutafchiev said. The first and the second stages of the project will be completed in 2008, estimates show. The installation of the signalling and the telecommunication systems of the railway line will be launched simultaneously. Thus the entire project will be completed by 2009. The EUR 340 million investment is the largest infrastructure project in Bulgaria, according to prime minister Sergey Stanishev.
Source: Pari (07.08.2007)

Bulgaria rail operator receives power trader permit The Bulgarian power regulator Tuesday said it will issue a 10-year licence to Tren, a wholly-owned unit of the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC), to operate as an electricity trader. The licence, expected to be handed to the recipient within two months, will allow Tren to sell electricity to national railway carrier BDZ at a minimum premium. The engines operated by BDZ have no onboard electricity meters at the moment. NRIC is currently in talks to buy 50MW of electricity from the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. The negotiations were prompted by an electricity hike that took effect in early July this year which spelled a 15 per cent increase in train fares. The access to cheaper electricity could allow BDZ to pare monthly costs by BGN 12 mln, deputy transport minister Georgi Peterneichev said recently. NRIC intends to sell electricity to the train stations and other users in close proximity, said executive director Anton Ginev. These plans will require that the company obtain an end-supplier licence as well. Exports have commented it would be unlikely that NRIC will be able to sell electricity to end-consumers because they fall within the permit area of the respective regional power distributor. In related news, the NRIC managing board Tuesday discussed the rules for the selection of a strategic investor and an operator for the telecom division that BDZ intends to set up. The investor will be required to ensure financing for the development and modernisation of the telecom network. European and global telecoms are interested in a share of the future company and in the lease of the infrastructure, said Ginev.
Source: Dnevnik (15.08.2007)

The state Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (SCEWR) has taken a decision for the issuing of a license for trade in electrical power to the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC). There are no legal obstacles for the license to be issued, the SCEWR said. The licence will allow the company to sell electricity to households and establishments near railway stations.
Source: Pari (15.08.2007)

The company trading with electric power - Tren plc - which is owned by the state company of Railway Infrastructure - was grabted ten-year licence to do business. The chairperson of the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, Mr Konstantin Shushulov, handed the licence to the deputy minister of transport, Mr Georgi Petarneychev. The State Railway Company, National Railway Infrastructure Company and Bulgarian Railway Company will be the biggest clients of the newly fomated enterprise, and eventually all the companies of the Ministry of Transport will be serviced by Tren. Tren is a subsidiary of National Railway Infrastructure Company. Its main business is the trade with electric power. Thus the present and future railway transportation companies will be able to buy cheap electric power. Mr Petarneychev said that the company is to become operational no later than October 1st. It will work to maintain the price of electricity at a level of stability.
Source: Zastrahovatel (27.08.2007)

The general manager of the National Company Railway Infrastructure SC – Sofia Anton Ginev and the two managers of the Austrian railroad Oesterreichische Bundesbahnen AG (OBB AG) – Peter Klugar and Arnold Schiefer will sign a Memorandum for co-operation in Minister of Transport Petar Mutafchiev’s presence, they announced from the Ministry of Transport. The event will take place at 11 a.m. in the Conference room of the Ministry. With the signing of the document a new stage in the relations between the two countries will be set and thus new preconditions for the start of concrete projects in the management and the technological renovation will be opened up. The National Company Railway Infrastructure SC – Sofia is in active co-operation with OBB Infrastruktur Betrieb AG.
Source: Agency Focus (06.11.2007)

BDZ, the Bulgarian state-owned railway carrier, said it will use some of the proceed from its 120 mln euro bond to retire a 67 mln lev debt to national power grid operator NEK. A portion of the residual proceeds from the placement will be used to settle 90 mln levs in unpaid infrastructure charges owed to the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC). The notes, secured with Siemens Desiro engines and a portion of the cargo car fleet, also raised money for the renovation of 1,200 BDZ cargo cars.
Source: Dnevnik (26.11.2007)

Sofia railway station becomes a mall with tower A huge mall with high business and administrative building in the firm of a tower. That’s what the Central railway station must turn into in the next few years as to most of the architects who participated in a competition, which was organized by The National Company "Railway Infrastructure" (NRIC). 5 projects were subject of a public discussion yesterday. The project, which was pronounced best by the ten-member jury, was declassified. It supposes the construction of a glass bridge over the platforms and transformation of the station’s ceiling into a solar power system. The project, which took 2nd place bets on modernization of the already existing building and will cost only BGN 8 mln. Neither of the projects mentions that the tram stations as well as the bus stations are situated far from the trains and people are dragging their luggage for hundreds of meters, the ex-General Director of BDZ Yosif Smilov criticizes. There will be even more shops and the passenger service will not be improved, he added. Every project has its priorities, the Minister of transport Petar Mutafchiev generalized. The fate of the railway station will be decided till the end of February. There are three options: the state might invest in the modernization of the existing building, the building might be given on concession or a mixed company might be created between NRIC and a private investor. A new project might be developed, which will be a compilation of the best sides of the five projects that were already represented.
Source: Standart (20.12.2007)

The roof of Rail Station Varna, part of which fell two days ago, is still in guarantee, said National Company Railway Infrastructure SC. The performer of the repair works, Kram Complex LTD, will take care of the 15 cm. Currently the area is not accessible. Rail Station Varna was opened in 1923. The last repair works of the railway station was in 2005 and it cost BGN 5 mln.
Source: Agency Focus (11.01.2008)

The Central Train Station of Sofia will be renovated ut to two years for BGN 40 million. This will be the price for the modernization of the building. The construction of buildings, over-ground and underground garages and green areas will cost more than BGN 150 million. They may be built until the middle of 2010. Thus the Central Train Station will became a new administrative and business center os Sofia, attracting about BGN 190 million. The area of the station is 282 decares and it is owned by National Company Railway Infrastructure SC.
Source: 24 chasa (22.01.2008)

Profits at state-owned maritime carrier NMB rose by 16.3 mln to 35.1 mln levs in 2007, the Bulgarian transport ministry said on Monday. The company is currently undergoing a privatisation procedure. The state-owned airports made a profit of 21 mln levs last year, said the ministry. The Sofia International Airport was the top-performer with a profit of 20.7 mln levs. However, that represents a 8.6% fall on 2006. In contrast to the state airports, the sea ports in Varna and Burgas recorded a 10% drop in revenue on a weaker traffic of grain shipments. The Danube ports in Ruse, Vidin and Lom all turned in a profit in 2007. Property disposals enabled national railway carrier BDZ to record a profit of 10 mln levs last year despite a 4.8% decline in cargo traffic, said the transport ministry. Passenger numbers are also down on 2006. The loss at the National Railway Infrastructure Company widened by 12 mln year-on-year to 72 mln levs.
Source: Dnevnik (29.01.2008)

There will not be delays in BDZ wage payments due to Kremikovtzi problems There will not be delays in Bulgarian State Railways SPJSC (BDZ) wage payments due to Kremikovtzi problems, said Deputy Minister of Transport –Georgi Petarneychev in an interview. There is an agreement according to which if Kremikovtzi does not pay the remaining 40 percent of its debts to BDZ until 25 February, the railway company will cease the shipments. Kremikovtzi has admitted BGN 17 mln of debts to BDZ and has already paid 60 percent of them. There is a legal procedure going on for another BGN 5 mln. Kremikovtzi has not admitted another BGN 2 mln yet. Currently BDZ does shipments that are paid day-for-day. The total value of the wages in BDZ and National Company Railway Infrastructure SC is BGN 22 - 23 mln.
Source: Agency Focus (22.02.2008)

Rail Transport Giants Eager to Get Hold of BDZ A couple of European rail transport giants are licking their chops for the Bulgarian National Railway Company (BDZ), The Standart learnt. Germany's Deutsche Bahn and Austria's OBB have expressed desire to acquire part of the company. According to well-informed sources of The Standart, OBB and Deutsche Bahn's business ambitions are mainly focused on purchasing BDZ's freight operations, which was separated from the passenger service end last year. The chief aims of this restructuring were to cut off the subsidizing of the passenger transport service from the freight department's revenues, as well as to closely scrutinize all company accounts to find out what activities bring profit and what not. Both Deutsche Bahn and OBB are well known in Bulgaria. The former and the Bulgarian state-owned Railroad Infrastructure Company signed a memorandum of cooperation in 2007; the latter has been advising BDZ on how to wrestle with existing financial problems and develop into a successful company. "It's no wonder that foreign companies are particularly interested in BDZ's freight service," experts in transport commented. The reason is that the Bulgarian railway services market in Bulgaria will be liberalized as of 2010, which means that BDZ will no longer hold the monopoly on it. As a result, any of Europe's railway companies will be able to set foot on the local market provided that they wish to and, of course, that they meet the EU criteria. And since Deutsche Bahn and OBB already hold certificates for technical safety, they will be able to freely enter the local railway market competition as major opponents to the state-owned monopolist.
Source: Standart (25.02.2008)

Starting December 14 the time for travelling between Sofia and Bourgas will be reduced by an hour, said the General Director of National Company Railway Infrastructure – Anton Ginev. The company works on the reconstruction of the railway network. The efforts are focused on the railway lines Sofia-Plovdiv and Sofia-Pernik. The first stage of the campaign for cleaning the railway stations finishes today. It is borrowed from the experience of Deutsche Bahn, explained Ginev. The campaign takes place for the second year as loads of garbage was shoveled off the stations last year. Ginev added that the campaign will be repeated 4 times a year.
Source: Standart (29.02.2008)

Energoremont Holding AD-Sofia, BSE code - ERH, has submitted the following information: Energoremont Holding has signed a contract with the National Railway Infrastructure Company at a greater value, exceeding 10% of the average incomes of the company for the last three years.
Source: x3news.com (06.03.2008)

Bulgaria's Financial Supervision Commission has confirmed the prospectus for initial public offering of Railway Infrastructure Holding Company. Shareholders in the company are Vassil Bozhkov, who holds 80% of the capital, and Orlin Hadjiyankov with 20%. This will be Bozhkov's third company to be listed for trade on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. The other two public entities are Holding Roads and Moststroy, both dealing with road construction. Railway Infrastructure Holding Company will offer a BGN 5.583 million issue of shares with a par value of BGN 1 and an issue value of BGN 5. The IPO will be organised under a book building method. Investment intermediary of the offering is United Bulgarian Bank.
Source: Pari (10.04.2008)

Stoyan Stoyanov, chairman of the Energetics Department of National Company Railway Infrastructure (NCRI), said that a new SCADA system will be introduced at the traction substation Simitli. According to Stoyanov, this substation would allow some other sunstations to be controlled from Simitli, which would reduce the personnel. Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) pays about BGN 30 mln for electricity. The modernization of the electricity distribution network would reduce the power expenses of the railway carrier.
Source: Agency Focus (21.04.2008)

The National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) said it is considering deploying photovoltaic panels on vacant company-owned land plots, disused railway routes and the rooftops of train stations. The company intends to install capacity of up to 5MW at a cost of around 25 mln euro. A feasibility study is in progress and funding opportunities are being explored. The first solar park is likely to be built on the site of the Varna ferry complex, said Stoyan Stoyanov, head of the energy department at NRIC.
Source: Dnevnik (22.04.2008)

About 15 companies from the construction industry have already shown interest in the forthcoming tender for the Pioneer railway station, reported yesterday the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, which will organize the auction. The documentation for the impending deal has already been prepared and the notice for the auction is expected to be published within days in two newspapers. The state plans to sell the land, which is included in the assets of National Company Railway Infrastructure SC (NCRI), starting with an auction price of BGN 115.3 million. The revenue will go for modernization of railways.
Source: Trud (11.06.2008)

Lokomotiven and vagonen zavod (LVZ) SPJSC - Rousse will sign by the end of June a new contract with Bulgarian State Railways (BSR) SPJSC , announced by the company. It is for a repair of 10 electric-diesel trains in accordance with new technical conditions from BSR. After the repair, the operating time of the trains will be extended for another 10 years. The deadline for execution of the contract is until the end of 2009. Provided volume of repair work amounts to over EUR 8 million. Meanwhile, between June and the beginning of July 2008 LVZ will forward to BSR the last two repaired electric-diesel trains, in accordance with a contract from 2005.
Source: RuseInfo.net (16.06.2008)

The contracting entity with the most public procurements for 2007 is NPP Kozloduy SPJSC, according to the annual report of the Public Procurement Agency. The company ranked first with a total of 246 contracts signed. Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works is second with 189 contracts, followed by Sofia municipality with 184 contracts. The list of the biggest Bulgarian contracting entities also includes National Company Railway Infrastructure, National Revenues Agency, Thermo-electric power plant Maritsa-iztok-2 SPJSC and Enel Maritsa-Iztok 3 JSC.
Source: Agency Focus (24.06.2008)

Five projects for reconstruction of the Plovdiv Central Station were presented yesterday by National Company Railway Infrastructure in the repsence of the Minister of Transport. The project ranked second of Arkont-A LTD plans the construction of two glass domes close to the main building, which is a monument of culture. The project also includes a new reception hall, a commercial center, offices, passenger complex and even a luggage checking zone, who would depart for Plovdiv Airport. The initial cost of the Arkont-A project is EUR 120 mln.
Source: Trud (08.07.2008)

Bulgaria's National Railway Infrastructure Company has been issued a six-month licence to operate GSM-R, a wireless communications platform developed specifically for railway communication and applications. GSM-R is a secure platform for voice and data communication between railway operational staff, including drivers, dispatchers, shunting team members, train engineers, and station controllers. It delivers features such as group calls, voice broadcast, location-based connections, and call pre-emption in case of an emergency. GSM-R is part of the new European Rail Traffic Management System standard and carries the signaling information directly to the train driver, enabling higher train speeds and traffic density with a high level of safety. The GSM-R system will best on the Plovdiv-Svilengrad railway which is undergoing an upgrade. The telecommunication and signaling systems of the Plovdiv-Svilengrad railway will be installed by the Thales Alcatel Lucent consortium.
Source: Dnevnik (04.08.2008)

National Railway Infrastructure Company applies for World Bank loan of BGN 360 mln The National Railway Infrastructure Company has applied for a World Bank loan of BGN 360 million, Focus News Agency informs. The funding will be allotted for three years. BGN 120 million will be spent on mechanization. The rest of the financing will be used for repair works along railway sections that are not included in European programs and national budget. Some funding will be spent also on supplies of materials.
Source: Agency Focus (22.10.2008)

Bulgaria's Railway Companies Craft Crisis Plan in Case Kremikovtzi Shuts down Bulgaria's state-owned railway companies BDZ and NK "Railroad Infrastructure" going to prepare within ten days an emergency plan for their restructuring in case the steel-making giant Kremikovtzi gets closed down. The news was announced Thursday by Vasil Rangelov, who is the advisor of Bulgaria's Transport Minister Petar Mutafchiev on railroad matters. During yesterday's meeting, the management of BDZ and "Railroad Infrastructure" agreed on specific steps to dismiss a certain number of workers and to curtail the companies' expenditures in the event that Kremikovtzi gets shut down. Rangelov explained the two state-owned companies had considered different scenarios including the stopping of individual production cycles as well as the complete closure of the plant. Even in the worst-case scenario, however, the transportation of materials from Kremikovtzi will not be stopped immediately as, in Rangelov's words, the plant has metal products and scrap, whose transportation might take more than three years. The potential shutting down of Bulgaria's largest steel-maker Kremikovtzi will affect the Sofia-Lom and the Sofia-Karlovo-Burgas freight lines. The Danube port of Lom and the Black Sea port of Burgas are also likely to be suffer severely from the termination of the their transports for the factory. At present, Bulgaria's two state-owned railway companies receive about 25% of their revenue from their freight services for Kremikovtzi.
Source: Darik Radio (13.11.2008)

Consortium with leader Repair Restoration Enterprise Koehne JSC (a subsidiary of Railway Infrastructure-Holding company JSC) has signed a contract for the repair of a section of railway line Sofia - Karlovo – Zimnitza, reported by the company. The value of the contract with the National Company Railway Infrastructure (NCRI) is a BGN 22.52 million excl. VAT, and the execution period is 22 months. In April Koehne won a framework agreement with NCRI for recovery of concrete and reinforced concrete bridges in the regions of Sofia, Vratsa, Dupnitsa, Stara Zagora, Burgas, Pleven, Rousse and Gorna Oryahovitsa. The contract was for BGN 1.8 million.
Source: mediapool.bg (24.11.2008)

BDZ may reduce the prices for cargo transportation starting the New Year. Tarrifs have to be reconsidered in order to increase the number of the company customers, said Minister of Transport – Petar Mutafchiev. 400 workers of the railroad system would be laid-off from January 1, 2009, he added. These are people of retirement age and would start receiving the corresponding pensions. The layoffs, a result of the crisis, are expected to reach 800-1200 people in BDZ and National Company Railway Infrastructure. The innitial figure was 3000 people. The idea is to re-employ them after the crisis. National Company Railway Infrastructure has received BGN 30 mln from the State Reserve.
Source: Standart (08.12.2008)

Some BGN 250 million is needed for the yearly maintenance of railway network in the country, the general director of Railway Infrastructure National Company Anton Ginev said. The funds in budget 2009 and the revenues from infrastructural taxes will not be enough and the company will be short of BGN 70 million. One solution is the sale of company's assets but for that changes in the law are necessary.
Source: Pari (11.12.2008)

Three are the Bulgarian companies that received safety certificate and will have the right to transport passengers and freight in EU, the chief of railway administration in the ministry of transport said to Pari daily. They are Bulgarian Railway Company (the first private railway carrier), Bulgarian State Railways, and Railway Infrastructure National Company. The term of the license is till 2013.
Source: Pari (09.01.2009)

Energoremont holding JSC concluded a contract with the National Company Railway infrastructure on December 23. It is for delivery and set in operation of two electric-gas switches 110êV /1250À. The agreement is amounted to BGN 114 thousand without value-added tax or BGN 136.8 thousand with the tax. The two companies struck a framework agreement for delivery and setting in motion of electric-gas switches 110êV /1250À for the period 2008-2011(30 pieces), as follows 10 pieces for 2008 and 2009, 5 pieces for 2010 and 5 for 2011. Places for termination of the delivery are energy stations in Sofia (10 pieces), Plovdiv (8 pieces) and Gorna Oryahovitsa 12 pieces.
Source: profit.bg (12.01.2009)

Government provides BGN 400 mln to fight the crisis The government will vote today the BGN 400 mln, planned in the Budget 2009, for coping with the crisis. The funds will be provided for payments at the Agriculture, modernization of the railway transport, repairs of the students’ hostels and social projects. BGN 211 mln have been planned for agricultural measures as GN 150 mln of them are for national surcharge payments. BGN 94.5 mln will go for security measures in the railway transport. National Company Railway Infrastructure will receive BGN 50 mln and BDZ – BGN 44.5 mln for delivery of new and reconstruction and modernization of the old passenger wagons. The Ministry of Labor and Social Works will be granted BGN 47.25 mln.
Source: Sega (15.01.2009)

BDZ considers closing railway stations and their transformation into train stops, said the General Director of National Company Railway Infrastructure – Anton Ginev. The step is a result of the global financial crisis and aims at reducing the expenses. The train stops need no personnel. The transformation would be based on the cargo currently passing through the stations.
Source: econ.bg (09.04.2009)

The company is registered in Territorial administration Big taxpayers and insurers towards 2009, 04.30
Source: Tax Administration (30.04.2009)

Employees of Bulgaria’s National Railway Infrastructure Company and national railway carrier BDZ will work four hours a day or enroll on a nine-month retraining government scheme, according to measures to cushion the blow of the crisis to be presented by transport minister Petar Mutafchiev to the government. Mutafchiev declined to specify the number of workers that will make use of the measures. Freight traffic has slowed down by 40% since the start of the year, squeezing proceeds from infrastructure fees the infrastructure company collects from transport firms. Representation expenses at the firm have already been cut in half, as have been fuel costs for company vehicles. The paychecks of senior officials were slashed by 20% from May and salaries of other staff were frozen. In a bid to tackle the economic crisis, the transport ministry plans to close 12 non-profitable railway routes, a measure that is expected to save BGN 6.5 million. Fulfilling the measures outlined in the anti-crisis plan and the sale of designated properties at the two companies should save about BGN 20 million.
Source: Dnevnik (08.05.2009)

In stead of selling the extra expensive properties for millions of BGN, National Company Railway Infrastructure would start renting properties for pennies. The company, which manages all rail stations in the country, announced renting auctions in the regions of Plovdiv and Stara Zagora for starting prices in the region of BGN 27 on its web site. Deputy Director of the company, Hristo Alexiev, said these are the starting prices and he is of the opinion the rents would be several times higher.
Source: Sega (12.05.2009)

The Bulgarian minister of transport Peter Mutafchiev will attend the signing of two railway contracts under the projects “Electrification and reconstruction of the railway connection Slivengrad- Turkish border” and “Design and introduction of Geographic information system for the needs of National Company Railway Infrastructure. The first contract is for the design, construction and electrification of the railway section from the town of Svilengrad to the Turkish border. The second is for Geographic information system (GIS) which provides database with the spatial location of the railway infrastructure and its elements.
Source: Standart (26.05.2009)

BGN 10 mln for new railway stations BGN 10 mln would be spent by the National Company Railway Infrastructure each year. 40 percent of the stations have already been reconstructed, said the Executive Officer of the company Anton Ginev. 80 more railway stations are expected to be refreshed until the end of 2009. The Super Bourgas project, which plans connections between the airport, the port and the railway station at the Black Sea city, would start on June 24, said Minister of Transport Petar Mutafchiev. Another large project is expected to start in Plovdiv. It would connect the railway station with the new airport of the city. Before that, however, an overhaul of the station is necessary and it would cost up to BGN 100 mln. the funds would be secured through PPP. There are already investors willing to invest in a cargo terminal at the airport in Plovdiv, Mutafchiev added.
Source: Standart (23.06.2009)

Repair Restoration Enterprise Koehne JSC, subsidiary of Railway Infrastructure-Holding company JSC, agreed to supply spare parts for railway self-propelled special machinery to National Company Railway Infrastructure. The parts are produced by Plasser & Theurer and their value is BGN 365 thous, VAT not included. Railway Infrastructure-Holding company JSC also announced that it has transferred 500 registered materialized shares from the capital of Arteskos-98 JSC. The par value of one such share is BGN 14 and the deal represents 10% of the company capital. No information was released about the vendee.
Source: investor.bg (16.07.2009)

Kichev monitors BDZ BDZ owes over BGN 60 mln to National Company Railway Infrastructure (NCRI). Kamen Kichev, the new deputy minister of transport, was presented the news during his first work meeting with the chairmen of BDZ – Hristo Monov, and of NCRI – Anton Ginev. The debt blocks the operations of NCRI and would delay the payment of salaries to its 16 thousand workers by at least a week, unions said. The reason of the debt is the slump in cargo transportation. BDZ carried only 5.552 mln tons in the first six months of the year, 3.335 mln tons less as compared to the same period a year ago and 4.714 mln tons less as from the 2007, which is almost 2-fold decrease. Currently BDZ receives as much funds in six months as for 20 days in 1990.
Source: Standart (06.08.2009)

Bulgaria’s national railway carrier BDZ will pension off or make redundant around 2,000 employees by the end of the year as part of a package of measures to counter the economic slide. The company currently has 15,532 people on the payroll. The state-run National Railway Infrastructure Company, which maintains the operator’s infrastructure, reported a 20% decline in revenue and a loss of BGN 48 million for January to June, said general director Anton Ginev. In an effort to curb the deterioration, the company will follow suit with pensioning off workers by the end of the year. BDZ executive director Hristo Monov pinned the bulk of the blame for the lackluster performance on the economic meltdown and the falling prices of ready-made products. More pressure came from the withdrawal of one of the company’s key customers, Kremikovtzi, which went insolvent. The carrier booked a six-month loss of BGN 22.3 million, where reduced passenger and cargo traffic contributed 82%.
Source: Dnevnik (21.08.2009)

Energoremont Holding won a contract of TPP Varna. This refers to "overhaul of the block ¹ 6 - Boiler, Turbine, and el.oborudvane metal control, reported by the Public Procurement Agency. The contract for the performance of the assignment is concluded on August 18 and is worth 3.57 million VAT. At the beginning of the month it became clear that Energoremont Holding won a contract to the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC). The agreement between the two companies was signed on August 3 and is worth 3.23 million including VAT. The object of the contract "Additional work on the modernization of TP (traction substation) Volouyak and build SCADA first line. Energoremont reported holding 9.4 million leva unconsolidated profit at the end of the first half of 2009, EUR 339 thousand year earlier.
Source: profit.bg (27.08.2009)

Starting September 1, 2009, Bulgaria's National Company "Railroad Infrastructure" is going to reduce the salaries of its employees by 30%. This was announced Monday by the company's Director, Anton Ginev, who also explained that the cut was only a temporarily anti-crisis measures, and the workers would receive their 30% cuts back after January 1, 2009, together with the respective interest. The temporary pay decrease is part of anti-crisis package to reduce the BGN 50 M deficit of the state-owned rail company, whose revenue dropped by 20% in the first half of 2009 compared to the same period of 2008. Ginev said that the Railroad Infrastructure Company had incurred losses amounting to BGN 8,5 M from 13 of the railroad lines in Bulgaria but the shutting down of those lines was an extreme decision that could not be made by the company itself. Trade unionists have declared that the closure of the unprofitable lines would lead to the layoffs of 644 workers, and laying off workers from the other, profitable rail lines, would endanger their safety. According to Petar Bunev, Chair of the Bulgarian Railroad Workers' Syndicate, any layoffs should be made among the administrative staff of the company, not among its workers.
Source: Darik Radio (01.09.2009)

The deficit of National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) stands at BGN 50 million, general director Anton Ginev announced. The reasons are a 20-percent drop of income in the second quarter of 2009, unsuccessful operation assets tenders, less financing etc. The first anti-crisis measure is a 30-percent salary cut by the end of the year. The company will try not to layoff employees and close railway lines.
Source: Pari (01.09.2009)

The transport ministry is in talks with the trade unions of state-owned railway carrier BDZ and National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) over minimising the planned lay-offs at the companies and quickly paying delayed wages, deputy transport minister Kamen Kichev told the Pari daily. A few days ago the ministry remitted BGN 1.4 million for wages at the infrastructure company, BDZ's wages will be paid in the shortest time possible. The two companies are in a very grave financial condition, Kichev pointed out. Cargo has fallen 45% since the beginning of 2009. At the same time BGN 80 million of the company's budget was spent in the first half of the year. Measure are currently being drafted to overcome the crisis. They include restructuring, merging separate units and downsizing where necessary. These are long-term programmes, they will be carried out over the next ten years. However, we cannot but reduce the staff, because the crisis in the railway sector is really very serious, said Kamen Kichev. In early September BDZ said it planned to lay off 2,000 workers until this year's end and that 1,300 of them would be dismissed from October. However, a redundancy notification has been submitted to the Employment Agency for 800 people only. NRIC's anti-crisis programme relies on white-collar reductions only, general director Anton Ginev told the Pari. Otherwise the company would be unable to guarantee cargo safety.
Source: Pari (29.09.2009)

EU firms to save railways from ruin An international company will audit debt-ridden railway carrier BDZ and National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC). Big EU companies will be invited to work out a strategy for the railways, transport minister Alexandar Tsvetkov said. European programme financing will be sought for the drafting of the strategy. The debts of the carrier to suppliers exceed BGN 150 million, as much as BGN 37 million is due by this year's end. BDZ's loans amount to BGN 101 million. NRIC's debts to suppliers stand at BGN 101 million, the payments have to be made by the end of 2009. The main reason for the railways' collapse is the unequal distribution of the state subsidy for 2009, Tsvetkov pointed out. The bulk of financing was allocated for the first months of the year and much smaller amounts were earmarked for the last months. Those documents were signed by ex minister Petar Mutafchiev and BDZ's ex CEO Hristo Monov. An anti-crisis plan should be urgently implemented for both companies. All available money will be used for payment of wages. The cabinet has allocated BGN 7 million for August and September, the amount will be deducted from NRIC's capital expenses. That will affect infrastructure modernisation, experts said. Both companies will be restructured. BDZ will become a holding, uniting the companies for cargo and passenger transport. The administration will be reduced 60%, the savings will amount to BGN 1 million a year, Tsvetkov added.
Source: Pari (15.10.2009)

Protest for Unpaid Salaries to Close Railroad Stations A strike of railway workers will block Bulgaria at the end of October. The people who attend the railroad stations will protest because they haven't received their salaries for months. The trade unions in the railway company insist also on ceasing the layoffs in the company. Railway workers are protesting because the BGN 7 million allotted by the cabinet for wages have not been paid.
Source: Standart (20.10.2009)

Minister Tsvetanov dismissed the directors of all big state transport enterprises. National Railway Infrastructure Company, Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority and Transport Construction & Rehabilitation have new executives. The financial manager of BDZ was also released. According to Pari daily's information the head of Automobile Administration Executive Agency will be replaced.
Source: Pari (21.10.2009)

The management of National Company Railway Infrastructure (NCRI) intends to draw a BGN 10 million loan, which would aid the financing of operating activities, shows a check in the public procurements register. The company sent out letters to nine Bulgarian banks with its proposal to be granted a credit. In September 2009 the company's revenues from fees are BGN 8.17 million or 4.3 percent less than in August. Compared to September 2008 they fall by BGN 2.2 million or by 21.3 percent.
Source: Dnevnik (28.10.2009)

Bulgaria’s transport ministry will today meet with the creditors of national railway carrier BDZ to ask for a grace period until the end of this year and the next, deputy minister Kamen Kichev told Dnevnik. The debt-saddled company has run up a debt of BGN 140 million. Minister Aleksander Tsvetkov said in end-October that BDZ and the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) have practically gone bust. The ministry will appeal for the longest possible grace period to implement a restructuring programme aimed at building the company back to life, Kichev said. More than 2,000 workers will be given the boot. The carrier’s biggest creditors are five banks, which provided two bond loans agreed by the previous two governments. The first, to the tune of EUR 30 million, was taken five years ago to renovate 3,620 carriages. Two years ago the company took a further EUR 120 million to repair 1,200 carriages and pay down outstanding bills to state-run power grid operator NEK. Another EUR 67 million was spent on the purchase of 25 diesel Siemens trains. Asked about a possible rejection of the proposal by the creditors, Kichev said, “We’ll have to convince them as this is the only way to get BDZ out of the ditch.”
Source: Dnevnik (03.11.2009)

B ulgaria's state-owned railway carrier BDZ may file for bankruptcy if it fails to reschedule BGN 140 million worth of debts, transport minister Kamen Kichev told the Pari daily. The company has to repay BGN 37 million to banks by this year's end. Another BGN 101 million worth of bank loans mature in 2010. Next week the transport ministry will invite all BDZ's creditors and try to negotiate rescheduling of debts. We hope to meet with understanding, otherwise the anti-crisis plan will not be carried out, Kichev added. According to the plan, both BDZ and National Railway Infrastructure Company will be restructured. BDZ's companies for cargo and passenger transport and for train management will be united into a single structure. Administration will be downsized 60%, another 1,330 BDZ workers will be laid off until the end of the year. BDZ owes suppliers more than BGN 150 million. The infrastructure company's debts to suppliers exceed BGN 100 million and are due by the end of 2009.
Source: Pari (05.11.2009)

National Company Railway Infrastructure will receive BGN 16 million to pay salaries, said Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Alexander Tsvetkov. On Wednesday the government decided to allocate funds to the infrastructure company. This is the second installment to the railways after a month ago the government allowed to be given BGN 7 million for salaries. The anticrisis program of the company provides a reduction in wages and their payment of the full amount next year.
Source: Dnevnik (06.11.2009)

Another 100,000 laid off by end-2009 The number of the registered jobless in Bulgaria already exceeds 300,000, after another 7,000 people were laid off in October, minister of labour and social policy Totyu Mladenov said. When the crisis started to gain speed a year ago, the total number of the unemployed was 216,640. The unemployment rate reached 8.23% in October, rapidly up from 8.03% in September. The statistics, though, does not take into account the people dismissed in the grey sector. The Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) counts some 160,000 workers in the unofficial economy. Undeclared unemployment may have reached 13 or 14% already, BIA said. The figure does not include the 170,000 or so discouraged unemployed. The notifications for mass lay-offs submitted in the past three months are yet to be fulfilled. A total of 30 enterprises warned in October that 2,500 workers will be made redundant. Construction companies are expected to dismiss 35,000 people by this year's end. State-owned railway carrier BDZ will lay off about 2,000 people. Staff reduction in Kremikovtzi steelworks will most probably not affect only 3,000 workers but all the 5,000 employed. Machine building enterprises have also said they do not have any reserves left for cost reduction except for discharging qualified staff. The biggest employer, the state, has not yet officially announced its plans for mass lay-offs. The exact number will be clear in December, minister Mladenov told the Pari daily. If the 15-percent downsizing suggested by finance minister Dyankov materialises, some 15,000 public employees will join the army of the jobless. Unemployment will not top 9.5% at the end of the year, Mladenov said. However, trade unions and employers' organisations believe the share will be well above 10%, because between 80,000 and 100,000 workers will be sacked by this year's end. The government projects an 11.4% unemployment rate in 2010.
Source: Pari (09.11.2009)

Turkish trucks put on train Turkish trucks, passing transit in the direction Dragoman - Sofia - Plovdiv – Svilengrad would be loaded on trains, said Milcho Lambrev, Director General of the National Railway Infrastructure Company. In this way we will follow the order of transport minister Alexander Tsvetkov to ease the traffic on Trakia highway in the Sofia - Plovdiv section, he added. Boarding trucks will reduce the destruction of Bulgarian highways and air pollution, explained Lambrev. In recently talks management of the Turkish Railways stated its desire to develop the ro-la shipments (shipments of auto vehicles on trains), said Lambrev. We have a terminal for loading and unloading trucks on trains in Svilengrad and we would have to build such in Dragoman. By mid-December we would be ready with the project, three months would be necessary for conducting the procedure for implementation and then three more to finish it. So in July, when traffic is highest, we would get trucks on wagons and would unload Trakia, explained Lambrev. BDZ has two platforms for uploading of trucks to trains and is ready to employ low-profile wagons to carry trucks, said Lambrev.
Source: Standart (23.11.2009)

Concession prepared for large transport facilities The municipalities of Sofia and Plovdiv will be able to apply for the concessions on the two cities' central stations, deputy minister of transport Kamen Kichev said. The new strategy for modernisation of railway, port and airport infrastructure is now ready and will be officially presented in early 2010. According to it large ports like Burgas, Varna-East and Varna-West, the central stations in Sofia and Plovdiv, and the airports in Plovdiv, Ruse and Stara Zagora will be concessioned off. We have not abandoned the idea for public-private partnership, Kichev added. A new scheme will be used for the upgrade of stations. They will turn into transport hubs that will include the bus stations and the related parking lots. Interest has been shown already in the concession on the airports in Ruse and Stara Zagora. The airfield in Targovishte, which is owned by the Plovdiv airport, will be the first to be offered to concessionaires, in January 2010.
Source: 24 chasa (21.12.2009)

Railroad workers will receive BGN 82 million for wages in 2010. However, the needed amount for workers’ wages in the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) is BGN 156 million. "In budget 2010, the provided amounts for us are a subsidy of BGN 82 million and capital transfers – BGN 90 million. The difference is drastic," said Prof. Milcho Lambrev, General Director of NRIC. "The company has sent a letter to Minister Djankov, which inform him that the money will not be sufficient.
Source: Standart (21.12.2009)

The highway between Sofia and the Serbian city of Nis will cost no more than BGN 70-80 mln on our part, said yesterday before Nova Television Prime Minister, Boyko Borissov. Bulgaria will accelerate the construction works on the route so that we are ready by May 1, 2012. On Monday, experts from the National Road Infrastructure Agency (NRIC) and Sofia Municipality launched the construction works on the project, explained Rosen Plevneliev, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works at the opening of technical bids for the section Nova Zagora - Yambol (Lot 3) of the Trakia motorway. This stretch will be included as Lot 0 into the motorway. The road from the Bulgarian side is about 46 km long and it was divided into two sections - from Sofia to Dragoman and then to Kalotina. The northern speed tangent of Sofia will be built together with Lot 0. Thus, the road Sofia - Kalotina will be connected to the northern tangent and traffic will continue on Trakia to Bourgas. "We should have a ready project by the end of the year and we must begin negotiations with the EC in order to include Sofia - Kalotina as an additional project within OP Transport. The construction could begin in mid-2011," said the Minister. On the Serbian side, the highway construction is at an advanced stage and will be completed by 2012.
Source: Class (28.04.2010)

Candidate concessionaires have already showed interest in the airports in Stara Zagora and Rousse, said Kamen Kichev, Deputy Minister of Transport. Both airports have high priority in the ministry strategy for concessions, announced on April 2 this year The plan for the management of Bulgaria’s transport centers provided the concession of airports, ports and railway stations. At this stage, the crisis in BDZ continues as it pays less than half due to National Company Railway Infrastructure (NRIC) each month, said the Deputy Minister. Therefore, the transport ministry negotiates with banks to finance the programs for the restructuring of BDZ.
Source: Monitor (03.05.2010)

BGN 2 bn to be remitted by the end of 2010 “We can remit BGN 2 mln under European projects by the end of the year,” EU Funds Minister, Tomislav Donchev, said after the regular Cabinet meeting. BGN1.1 bn has been paid under EU programmes so far. On the proposal of Donchev, the ministers took a decision to increase the amount of advance payments from the current 10% to 35% of the project’s value. The decision concerns projects and activities of the beneficiaries under Operational Programme (OP) Regional Development at the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, OP Transport at the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, and OP Environment at the Ministry of Environment and Water. “The increased amount of advance payments will strengthen the financial capacity of public beneficiaries implementing projects under the three operational programmes, providing them with additional financial resources. This is the motive for the Government’s decision,” explained Donchev. It will release financial resources in public budgets as well to be used for the implementation of investment programmes and for financing other projects of priority importance, the Cabinet argued. Following this decision, Bulgarian municipalities and other public institutions will be entitled to a larger amount of the advance payments. This concerns specific beneficiaries such as the Road Infrastructure Agency and the National Railway Infrastructure Company. “The deadline for the consideration of EU projects will be longer than three months,” promised Donchev. The approved expenditures under these will be remitted within 10 days. If the remittance is delayed through a fault of the administration, it will have to indemnify the beneficiaries. If the consideration of a project is delayed, penalties will be due. This was stipulated in a decree of the Council of Ministers adopted yesterday. The respective institution will have to set aside funds for this from its own budget and it will decide itself which item the money will be taken from.
Source: Class (05.08.2010)

State business: energy profitable, transport tanks The bulk of Bulgaria’s state-run companies returned to hefty profits and even posted an increase, but the transport sector, under the weight of mountains of debts and outdated equipment, suffered more losses despite subsidies to some firms. This is the bottom line from the earnings reports as at end-June published on the Ministry of Finance’s (MoF) website. The largest 15 companies -- all under the wing of the ministries of economy, transport and agriculture, saw their combined profit zip up by 54% year-on-year. The combined revenue slipped by 9% to BGN 4 billion but still speak for a considerable 6% of GDP. The global economic turmoil sapped electricity consumption but power utility NEK and Kozloduy nuclear power plant obviously managed to navigate through the troubled waters better than any other state-owned business, booking profits of BGN 76.2 million and BGN 62 million, respectively. The best performer, however, was the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), of which both are part, along with the country’s other top-notch energy assets. Overall, the group raked in a profit of a staggering BGN 92 million. Still, gas supplier Bulgargaz incurred a loss of over BGN 50 million, citing sales of gas below cost price. The biggest loser from the crisis turned out to be railway carrier BDZ, which booked a loss of more than BGN 30 million on almost 60% lower revenue. The company further suffered a decline in passenger numbers and cargo, mostly thanks to the idled operations of steel-making behemoth Kremikovtzi. Heavy rains sank the profit of Irrigation System, a key asset in the portfolio of Bulgaria’s Ministry of Agriculture. Companies under the Ministry of Defence also reported slimmer revenue and deterioration in overall financial performance but still they managed to rein in spending.
Source: Dnevnik (19.08.2010)

Brussels will decide whether the Bulgarian State Railways can take BGN 700 mln loan from the World Bank, said the Transport Minister Alexander Tsvetkov. We have sent two letters to the Commission - one for BGN 100 million rapid financial assistance and the second for BGN 460 million, which, however, include urgent needs, explained Tsvetkov. After 1 January 2011 each EU member state must report to the EC of loans, which increase the budget deficit and external debt. This also applies for the loan from the World Bank for Bulgarian State Railways and National Railway Infrastructure Company.
Source: Sega (15.11.2010)

NRIC saves a total of BGN 1.8 mln from unpaid leave The National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) has saved BGN 658,000 since the beginning of this year because its officials have taken voluntary unpaid leave. The invitation to go on leave was directed to all employees of the administrative and managerial staff, and those who do not work on 24-hour shifts. Until the end of November this year, applications for 18,796 days of unpaid leave had been submitted. In 2009, the officials involved in the campaign dubbed "My gift to NRIC'', used 31,692 days of unpaid leave and saved the company a total of BGN 1,204,296. Thus, the total amount saved from wages and salaries stood at over BGN 1.850 mln. The initiative was undertaken because of the serious economic situation in Bulgaria and the financial problems of the company. The management thanked its employees who displayed high professional morality and participated in the initiative, wrote a special message on the NRIC website.
Source: Standart (23.11.2010)

Bulgaria's state-owned railway carrier BDZ will shed 7,700 jobs out of its 27,700 workforce under the latest batch of programmes aimed at reinstating the sector, business daily Dnevnik reported. Although the income of BDZ and the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) no longer covers personnel expenses, the staff reductions will be carried out gradually as part of BDZ's five-year recovery programme and NRIC's reform plan, which will span six years. The redundancies have been set as a condition by the World Bank for extending a BGN 710 million loan to the two companies. NRIC's personnel should be trimmed by 4,700 by 2016, but the move will not produce massive layoffs, the company's finance director, Joanna Dimitrova, told Dnevnik. In turn BDZ, which is on the brink of insolvency according to its managers, will dismiss 3,000 employees by 2014.
Source: Dnevnik (29.11.2010)

Bulgaria's National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) will apply for a BGN 140 million loan from the World Bank, below the originally planned finance of BGN 250 million, the company's finance director, Joanna Dimitrova, told Dnevnik. The funds will be used for purchasing machinery and equipment for repairs and management of the railway infrastructure. The amount of the loan was reduced after the company calculated the value of the equipment needed, with technical details on the credit to be determined in the coming weeks, when representatives of the World Bank will visit Sofia. "Then we will specify the absorption and the term of the loan. It is already clear that the grace period will be seven years," Dimitrova said. The facility will most likely be provided in several tranches and the company will seek to secure the shortest term for repayment, she added. It is still unclear, however, whether the loan will be extended to the country or it will provide the guarantees only. The other state-owned railway firm, carrier BDZ, has also approached the World Bank for a loan, seeking BGN 460 million, which will be provided to the state. The World Bank has demanded the two companies to restructure their businesses and curtail expenses in order to obtain the funds. NRIC will chiefly resort to job cuts to meet the bank's requirements. The first wave of redundancies will affect the company's administration, which will reduce the number of its regional departments to five from the current 13. The move will affect between 300 and 350 employees. NRIC will also shed part of its technical staff, which will be introduced later.
Source: Dnevnik (03.12.2010)

The World Bank Grants 600M for Railway Infrastructure The World Bank would grant 600M leva to Bulgaria for the development of railway transport, vice premier and finance minister Simeon Djankov announced. According to the memorandum signed by the World Bank and Bulgaria’s Ministry of Transport, the funds will be distributed between Bulgarian State Railways and Railway Infrastructure National Company. The money will be used for the improvement of railway system in Bulgaria - investments, payment of debts and co-financing of European projects, Transport Minister Alexandar Tsvetkov explained. The memorandum comes as a result of the agreement for support of infrastructure in Bulgaria, signed by PM Boyko Borissov and the head of the World Bank Robert Zoellick this autumn.
Source: Standart (16.12.2010)

Bids for the Plovdiv-Burgas railway to be opened today Bids for the rehabilitation of the Plovdiv-Burgas railway will be opened today at the National Railway Infrastructure Company, inside sources announced. The project’s cost has been estimated at ˆ187.365 mln, 64% of which will be allocated under Operational Programme Transport and the rest will come from the national budget. The project has been divided in three parts. The first one is for the rehabilitation of the Mihailovo-Kaloyanets section, 21 km long; the second one includes the Stara Zagora-Yambol and Zavoy-Zimnitsa sections (120 km), and the third one – the Tserkovski-Karnobat section (122 km). Twelve firms submitted offers for the rehabilitation of the Plovdiv-Burgas railway at the beginning of November. This is the second tender for selecting a contractor after the first one, held in mid-June, was cancelled because of price bids which exceeded available financial resources.
Source: Class (21.12.2010)

Railway transport more expensive due to new taxes introduced by NRIC The costs of railway companies are likely to increase by about 2% because of the introduction of a fee for the electricity distribution for trains, showed estimates of the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC), submitted to the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC). This can affect the tariff for passengers and cargo, explained for Klassa Stoyan Stoyanov, Director of Electricity Distribution at the NRIC. The price for electricity distribution will influence the costs of railway companies but the State has to decide whether to change ticket prices for passengers. He explained that the tariff for electricity distribution has, so far, been part of the infrastructure charges which are being paid by carriers. All locomotives in the country should be equipped with electrometers reading electricity consumption. BDZ (State Railway Company) has a problem with this issue because only its new Siemens locomotives are equipped with such devices. The company has over 320 locomotives and the installation of such electrometers will costs some BGN 12,000-13,000 each. Meanwhile, SEWRC stated that it will not allow an increase in the price of water by 10-18% in the cities of Sofia and Plovdiv.
Source: Class (22.12.2010)

Purchase of railway tracks obtained illegally to be banned The imposition of a ban on the purchase of railway tracks by individuals is stipulated in one of the amendments to the Law on Waste Management. “The problem of regular theft of railway infrastructure can be tackled only in this way,” said Rumen Kolev, Head of Internal Security Direction at the National Railway Infrastructure Company. “A new throttle transformer, one of the most often stolen parts is worth BGN 600; in the waste collection point for this part one can get BGN 10.” Company officials proposed that the penalty for theft of items of the railway equipment and parts from the rolling stock will be increased. The respective draft amendments to the law have passed through the joint committee. It is expected that Parliament will be able to adopt them in March. “In the past few days, the attacks on railway infrastructure have become more frequent. A total of 17 cases were registered on Sunday alone,” said Rumen Kolev. According to preliminary data, losses from the theft of railway elements in 2010 accounted for nearly BGN 1.5 mln.
Source: Class (11.01.2011)

The trains from Plovdiv to Burgas to run at the speed of up to 160 km/h When the construction of the railway line Plovdiv-Burgas is completed, the new stretch will allow trains to run at speed of 130 to 160 km / h. This will shorten the travel from Sofia to the city of Burgas with more than 1 hour. The contract for construction of the railway route was signed yesterday by Director General of the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) Milcho Lambrev and by the Manager of the contractoring consortium, Eduardo Rossi, in the presence of His Excellency Ambassador of Italy to Bulgaria, H.E. Mr. Stefano Benazzo. The so-called Trakia railway is the biggest infrastructure project in Bulgaria which will open many new jobs over the next three years, said Transport Minister Alexandar Tsvetkov. Due to the excessively high price of offers, the first tender was cancelled. After the second tender procedure, the consortium GSF-SK 13- Trace Railinfra was selected which proposed to build the railway route for the cost of BGN 316,968,850.42, VAT excluded. This cost is BGN 110 mln lower than the lowest bid placed on the first tender. The project will be funded under OP Transport. Overall 19 companies are willing to implement project "Modernisation of the railway section Septemvri - Plovdiv" which is part of the Trans-European Railway (TER) network. Yesterday, the Tender Commission, chaired by Professor Zlatin Krumov, NRIC Deputy General Director, opened the bidders' offers. The project has an indicative budget of BGN 359 mln, 76.5% out of which will be granted by the EU Cohesion Fund and 23.5 % subsidised by the national budget. The price bids will be opened at a later stage. Within a few days, the tender for the construction of the railway segment Dimitrovgrad-Svilengrad will be launched.
Source: Class (09.02.2011)

Bulgaria will most likely see the start of massive railway strikes next week as the government and the syndicates have failed to reach agreement over plan to restructure ailing state company BDZ. The trade unions, the Ministry of Transport, and the management of the two-state owned companies - BDZ Holding and National Company "Railway Infrastructure" were supposed to agree on a reform plan for the financial stabilization of the state railways sector by Tuesday. Up to 7000 railway workers might be laid off in the coming months from the two state entities as Bulgaria is bidding to receive a badly needed loan of BGN 600 M for the sector from the World Bank – BGN 460 M for BDZ, which handles the passenger and freight traffic, and BGN 140 M for the NKZI, which is in charge of the railway infrastructure. The World Bank is ready to provide the BGN 600 M loan to Bulgaria on the condition that the spending for personnel for BDZ and NKZI are reduced by 30%.
Source: mediapool.bg (16.02.2011)

Bulgarian railroad workers will start a national strike with one-hour warning activities on March 10, as agreed between the two major labor unions – KNSB and "Podkrepa" (Support) at the Bulgarian State Railroads (BDZ). On March 10, all trains in Bulgaria will stop operating for one hour, between 10 am and 11 am. The next day, the warning activities will turn to a permanent strike and no trains will be running between 8 am and 4 pm every day, Petar Bunev, head of the railway syndicate of KNSB, said. The protest was initiated after the Bulgarian government and the syndicates failed to reach agreement over plan to restructure ailing state company BDZ. The trade unions, the Ministry of Transport, and the management of the two-state owned companies - BDZ Holding and National Company "Railway Infrastructure" were supposed to agree on a reform plan for the financial stabilization of the state railways sector by Tuesday. However, the working group's talks have fallen through, and the syndicates are therefore expected to declare a national strike at the beginning of next week. Up to 7000 railway workers might be laid off in the coming months from the two state entities as Bulgaria is bidding to receive a badly needed loan of BGN 600 M for the sector from the World Bank – BGN 460 M for BDZ, which handles the passenger and freight traffic, and BGN 140 M for the NKZI, which is in charge of the railway infrastructure. The situation of BDZ is particularly grave as the company's total debts amount to BGN 1 B; last week the Cabinet decided to provide the company with a state loan of BGN 140 M to cover its current debt payments. The World Bank is ready to provide the BGN 600 M loan (for which a memorandum was signed in December 2010 in Sofia) to Bulgaria on the condition that the spending for personnel for BDZ and NKZI are reduced by 30%. The companies employ a total of 27 000 people, and up to 7 000 are expected to lose their jobs if the World Bank offer is accepted. NKZI has already laid off 1 026 people in the past year, and will have to lay off 2 944 more by 2014, while BDZ will have to make redundant 2 800. The syndicates, however, are extremely worried, and say that NKZI actually plans to lay off 2000 more people in the period between 2014-2016. What is more, they claim the World Bank insists that some of Bulgaria's unprofitable railway lines be shut down.
Source: Standart (22.02.2011)

The first railway concessions will probably be of the Plovdiv and Varna stations, said Transport Minister Alexander Tsvetkov. Concession procedure for them is already under preparation and there is interest from Bulgarian investors. Meanwhile, the start of the concession for the Central Railway Station in Sofia, which was intended to be given together with the Poduyane station and the Sugar Factory train station, was delayed due to lack of evidence of ownership of part of the property.
Source: Standart (08.04.2011)

The concessioning of Sofia Airport to begin after consultations with the EC The concessioning of Sofia Airport must be coordinated with the EC (European Commission), the EIB and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), announced Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, Ivaylo Moskovski during his first meeting with media representatives. A consultant business model for Sofia Airport is due to be considered. This is a process which will not be completed within three months, commented Deputy Transport Minister, Kamen Kichev. According to him, the concession of Sofia's Central Railway Station is of higher priority than that of the Sofia Airport. There will be no major change in the Transport Ministry's policy, explained the new Minister. Nevertheless, the reform actions under Operational Programme Transport will be accelerated. Therefore, project management units are being set up at the National Road Infrastructure Agency and the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC). Moskovski stated that, in the next few years, BDZ and NRIC will mark progress since the pending loan agreement to be signed with the World Bank will accelerate the process. For the first three months of this year, the volume of freight transport increased by 18%. Besides, within a few days, the privatisation consultant for the company will be selected.
Source: Class (25.05.2011)

Bulgaria's state-run National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) said it has secured a grant of up to BGN 200 million under the European Union-funded Transport operational programme. The funding will be allotted for the upgrade of the Septemvri-Plovdiv railway section, in southern Bulgaria, part of the Trans-European railway network, NRIC said in a statement. NRIC chose last month Porr Technobau und Umwelt, IGA Rail Infrastructure Consortium, and Swietelsky-RVP Koehne to upgrade the Septemvri-Plovdiv line. Each company is expected to complete the upgrade of a subsection of the Septemvri-Plovdiv track by the end of 2013. The contracts with the winners in the upgrade tender will be signed on July 5. NRIC needs BGN 314 million to build new railroads and repair some 200 kilometres of existing tracks this year, it said earlier this year.
Source: Standart (30.06.2011)

Bulgaria's Transport Ministry has dismissed the executive head of the national railway carrier BDZ, Pencho Popov, appointing Yordan Nedev to replace him. Through the reshuffle, the ministry aims to improve the quality of passenger service, achieve better financial results and accelerate reforms in the company, it said in a statement. Popov was named head of BDZ in 2009 by former Transport Minister Alexander Tsvetkov after sacking Hristo Monov as BDZ chief. Prior to his new role, Nedev worked at consultancy MMD Partners. He started his career at the Bulgarian office of German consultancy Roland Berger, where he was in charge of the privatisation of Bulgarian companies. Nedev has a degree from London Business School and the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski.
Source: Dnevnik (04.07.2011)

Bulgaria has already contracted 90 per cent of the EU funds allocated for railway projects in the country after it signed an agreement to obtain financing for the upgrade of the Septemvri-Plovdiv railway section on July 5 2011, news agency Focus said. The budget allocated for the development of the country's railway infrastructure under the Transport operational programme has been fully contracted and even over-fulfilled, data by the information system for management and monitoring of EU funds shows. As of June 15, the country has negotiated 1.4 billion leva of the financing against a budget of 1.1 billion leva, while the amount of funds used is 113 million leva. The Septemvri-Plovdiv railway project costs 200 million leva and will be financed with money provided under the EU's cohesion fund and the state Budget. The overhaul of the section, which will take place between 2014 and 2020, will allow passengers trains' speed to reach 160 km/h.
Source: Dnevnik (06.07.2011)

Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) bought 30 sleeping wagons for the last time. At the moment they are produced in Turkey on behalf of the national rail carrier and will come into use in May 2012, announced the head of the Board of Directors of BDZ Vladimir Vladimirov. The 11 sleeping wagons available are insufficient for the needs of passengers, and the existing infrastructure does not allow high-speed train, he said. Passengers will receive the best from May 2012 and when the Bulgarian railways will move with 160 km/h, the comfort of the people and the demand for tickets in sleeping cars will be fully satisfied, Vladimirov said. Since the introduction of speed travels on Bulgarian railway tracks, which depends on the implementation of the repair and rehabilitation works on the railway lines by the National Railway Infrastructure Company, the sleeping cars on the internal lines would no longer be needed.
Source: Monitor (26.08.2011)

The World Bank has refused for the time being to a grant a life-and-death restructuring loan for the Bulgarian State Railways BDZ, according to BDZ CEO Yordan Nedev. Nedev explained Friday that the ailing Bulgarian railways need to demonstrate much better management in order to hope they can get the long-discussed loan "We need to demonstrate a dramatic improvement of the financial results. Until that happens, there is no point in us pouring money into BDZ," he told Bulgarian news site Mediapool. Bulgaria's state-owned passenger railway operator BDZ has been traditionally in a horrendous financial condition in the past 20 years. Since December 2010, when a preliminary loan agreement in the form of a memorandum with the World Bank was signed, the Bulgarian government had been hoping to get a loan of BGN 460 M for BDZ, together with a loan of BGN 160 M for the National Company "Railway Infrastructure", from the World Bank for badly needed reforms.
Source: Dnevnik (17.09.2011)

Earlier announcements that Bulgarian State Railways workers are going on a national strike have been confirmed, with a date for the strike to be set Monday. Friday and Saturday railways trade union representatives spoke about the possibility of strikes agains government plans to lay off 2,000 workers. Rosen Zarkov, chair of the railway unit of the Podkrepa Trade Union confirmed Sunday that syndicates have decided to go on strike and will announce the exact periods on a pres conference Monday. The strike is planned to take place in November and to be also directed against what trade unionists see as lack of dialogue on the part of the State Railways management. "The policy that the cabinet is engaged in will lead not only to job losses, but to the veritable destruction of Bulgarian railway services," commented the representative. The management of the state-owned BDZ Holding announced Friday afternoon it intended to lay off 2 000 workers, and reduce the number of trains in operation by 150 by January 2011. "There won't be 2000 but more than 3000 layoffs after all 150 trains in question are stopped," Bunev has predicted. He did say he expected some of the people slated to be laid off will agree to quit because of the carrot and stick methods employed by the government company – i.e. they will be offered 6 monthly wages if they agree, and will be fired without any compensation after 45 days if they refuse. The syndicates have been demanding a new collective labor contract from the BDZ company, and have risen up against the intended privatization of the only profitable unit of BDZ, BDZ Freight Services. They had threatened to launch a general strike in October 2011 but decided to call it off over continuing negotiations with the government. Earlier this year, in March, the launch of their general strike got the government to yield to their pressure. However, their victory appears to have been brief and inconclusive, especially against the backdrop of the increasingly worsening situation at the Bulgarian railways. The deeply indebted Bulgarian State Railways BDZ is going to lay off 2 000 workers and to reduce its daily number of trains servicing the routes in the country by 150, the company management announced earlier on Friday. The measures are supposed to help stave off the bankruptcy of the hugely troubled state railway company BDZ, declared at a news conference the head of the BDZ Board Vladimir Vladimirov. "We've got two options. We are either laying off 2 000 employees, or we are going towards bankruptcy, and then all 13 000 employees will lose their jobs," he stated. In addition to laying off 2 000 anyway impoverished workers, and to shutting down 150 trains, BDZ Holding is also planning to make money by selling some of its assets, and by upping train ticket prices. Thus, ticket prices along state-subsidized routes will be increased by 9% as of January 1, 2012, and those of "business trains", i.e. the handful of profitable railway routes in Bulgaria – by 15% as December 1, 2011. "Our major goal is to have the BDZ budget break even in 2012. Our second goal is to set aside more money from our internal resources in order to cover some of our debts to the creditor banks," Vladimirov explained. "The shutting down of 150 trains doesn't mean shutting down entire railway lines; we will reduced the number of trains in service. No a single railway line will be closed," explained in turn BDZ CEO Yordan Nedev. In his words, the termination of the 150 trains will save BGN 22 M annually, and about BGN 105 M over the next five years; the funds in question are to be used to cover some of the debts of the ailing state company. Nedev pointed out as an example the Septemvri-Dobrinishte railway line in Southern Bulgaria, which accumulates an annual loss of BGN 7 M but cannot be shut down because it is the only transportation means available along the respective route. The BDZ CEO did admit that in the past year the number of BDZ passengers declined by 10% but said it was a matter of analysis to figure out whether the decline was due to the poor service or to other factors. The railway management is set to "offer" 2 000 BDZ employees to leave in exchange for a payment of six monthly salaries, hoping to be done with the layoffs by January 2012. BDZ Board Chair Vladimirov added that a quarter of the 2 000 people slated to be laid off are part of the BDZ administration, and the rest come from the repair and maintenance departments. In 2011 so far, the BDZ management has made BGN 4 M from selling assets and other measures, and some BGN 8 M more are expected from austerity and privatization measures by the end of the year. The management plans to make another BGN 25-30 M in the first six months of 2012. The BDZ management is firmly intent on privatizing the only profitable department of the company, BDZ Freight Services; they argued Friday that in the past 5 years the freight transport by the railways declined by 50%. The crisis at the Bulgarian State Railway company BDZ has been worsening as in October 2011 Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski declared it to be "technically insolvent." "BDZ is in a technical bankruptcy, and we are now faced with a huge challenge to take actions that can help heal the company," the Transport Minister declared after Thursday's meeting with syndicate leaders chaired by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov. Bulgaria's major trade unions continue to threaten an all-out railway strike as little compromise on their demands has been reached with the government. In addition to the looming general strike, the situation at the Bulgarian railways is worsening on all fronts after earlier in October, Transport Ministry sources revealed that BDZ was about to collapse since German bank KfW demanded back 50 diesel and electric Siemens trains bought by the Bulgarian government after 2003 because the BDZ management had violated the purchase contract and had not paid its installments since 2010. At the beginning of October, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov revealed the massive debts of the BDZ company total BGN 771 M. Of those, BGN 531 M are debts to financial institutions. This revelation came in the wake of an announcement in September 2011 that for the time being the World Bank has refused to grant the Bulgarian railways an urgently needed loan of BGN 460 M, which was negotiated in December 2010. Another major issue of dispute on the agenda is the proposed privatization of BDZ Freight Services, which is traditionally more profitable than the passenger services of the state company. Moskovski vowed to keep up the dialogue and consultations with the syndicates as the privatization procedure for BDZ Freight Services is going on. The syndicates tend to disagree by stressing they are not convinced that the sale of the freight services department is the only way to raise the badly needed cash for the Bulgarian State Railways. Raising several hundred million BGN is necessary if BDZ wants to receive a massive, BGN 460 M loan from the World Bank for restructuring and repayment of old debts. The major grievances of the railway unionists and laborers include the failed negotiations with the government for the signing of a new collective labor contract, the refusal of the World Bank to grant a massive loan for BDZ, and what is said to be measures on part of the government to implement massive layoffs from the railways in the near future. Since December 2010, when a preliminary loan agreement in the form of a memorandum with the World Bank was signed, the Bulgarian government had been hoping to get a loan of BGN 460 M for BDZ, together with a loan of BGN 160 M for the National Company "Railway Infrastructure", from the World Bank for badly needed reforms. However, the reform attempts have been countered by the trade unions as they threatened to lead to massive layoffs of the state-employed railway workers (estimated by the unions at as many as 7 000 people). Thus, in March 2011, the Bulgarian government was forced by an imminent railway strike to back out of some of its reform plans. The following months saw the replacement of the Transport Minister and the BDZ CEO. The Bulgarian government had planned to grant BDZ a loan of BGN 140 M, counting on receiving back the money from the expected World Bank loan. The rest of the WB credit was to be utilized for covering the railways' mounting debts as the company is said to be nearing bankruptcy even though it has reduced its losses over the past two years. Unlike BDZ, however, Bulgaria's National Company "Railway Infrastructure" is expected to get its BGN 140 M loan from the World Bank because it is not going to cover old debts with the money but will invest them in new railway network equipment.
Source: Trud (07.11.2011)

Dundee Precious fined because of violations in Zlatitsa The gold mining company Balkan Mineral & Mining, a subsidiary of the Canadian Dundee Precious Metals, has committed violations on the territory of the town of Zlatitsa and the eponymous railway station, a joint inspection by the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications and the Civil Crisis Headquarters, established. The company has not paid rent for the daily use of a 260 sq m site for unloading of the National Company Railway Infrastructure. Because of this violation, Balkan Mineral & Mining has been fined by the Transport Ministry under the Obligations and Contracts Act. The company has damaged the road approaches to the railway station, built with taxpayers’ money and, for years on end, has been transporting its cargoes in violation of the set 16-tonne limit, for which it is liable to sanctions by the Executive Agency Automobile Administration. The inspectors have set December 5th as the deadline for the company to remove a derailed crane threatening the life and health of passengers and citizens. The Canadian company has also clogged the collector catch basins for which penalties are projected, too. The Transport Ministry has concluded that Balkan Mineral & Mining must stop its operation on the territory of the Zlatitsa railway station and move its unloading site to the Pirdop factory railway station. In addition, following a signal from the Coalition for Sustainable Development, the Conflict of Interest Committee has been ordered to check for conflict of interest several municipal councillors in Chelopech, who are employed at Balkan Mineral & Mining, according to the coalition. For the time being, there is no decision on whether the investment proposal of Balkan Mineral & Mining for gold mining in Krumovgrad is to be approved or not, announced the Ministry of Environment and Waters.
Source: Class (23.11.2011)

BDZ incurs losses amounting to more than BGN 440,000 in the first four days of the strike In the first four days of the strike, the Bulgarian State Railways Holding company (BDZ) incured losses, amounting to more than BGN 440, 000. “The unrealized revenue of the BDZ Passenger Transport Directorate stands at BGN 375, 000," said Jordan Nedev, BDZ Executive Director, quoted by Investor.bg. “The losses of the BDZ Freight Services Directorate are about BGN 60-70, 000 ,” said for Klassa Plamen Dzhurov, company’s Manager. He explained that they came from additional costs for redirection of shipments during the night. Workers are paid overtime and the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) is charging higher fees for these extra activities. Schedules are being changed every day. “There is no outflow of consignors; in the recent days, there has even been an over fulfillment of the company’s plans," explained Dzhurov. Despite the expectations for negotiations, a meeting between the management and the strikers was not held yesterday. Officials from the press office explained that now negotiating of loan extensions is an urgent priority for the holding company. Above 80% of the passenger trains in the country stopped for a fifth consecutive day, according to information from the trade unions. Since the beginning of the strike, no train has left from the Central Stations in the towns of Sofia, Pernik, Mezdra, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Plovdiv, Burgas and Stara Zagora. Meanwhile, the BDZ Freight Services Directorate filed a complaint against ten employees of the company with the Sofia City Court. According to the managers, they have staged the protests. The claim is aimed at declaring the strike illegal. Some 30 trains will be stopped from travelling today. This is the first phase from the plan for reforms in BDZ. It is envisaged that in the next two weeks the number of passenger trains will be reduced gradually, so that on December 12, the travelling trains will be just 138.
Source: Class (29.11.2011)

NRIC prepares large-scale projects worth ˆ4.5 bn for the 2014-2020 period “The National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) is preparing projects worth about ˆ4.5 bn for the 2014-2020 period under Operational Programme Transport,” said Stiliyan Krotnev, Director of Strategic Development and Investment Projects Divison in the company. Work on six projects will be the priority for NRIC in the next programming period. These include the development of railway junctions in Sofia and Burgas, modernisation and construction of four major railway lines. According to Krotnev, there is a great probability that the European Commission will not extend the entire amount needed, but the company may also apply under programme Connecting Europe, which finances green projects increasing the connections between countries along the most important routes for Europe. This is a new programme with a financial resource of about ˆ30 bn. NRIC is also preparing a request for changing the projects liable to financing in the next programming period. The railway company will propose technical assistance to be also included. It will aim at preparing the projects under the TEN-T network and developing the urban railway to bring it in compliance with the requirements for environmentally friendly transport. Currently, an application form for BGN 65 mln is being drafted aimed at financing all activities connected with projects’ preparation until the “construction permit” stage. The Railway Administration Executive Agency has authorised the TINSA company as the first certification authority. TINSA is currently the only company that can issue certificates of conformity with the EU requirements of the Bulgarian railway infrastructure. Any company, having the necessary technical parameters to perform the activities defined by the EU directive, can apply for a certification authority. The fee for considering the application documents is BGN 50,000 and the period is from 6 to 12 months.
Source: Class (19.12.2011)

The government has authorized the extension of 281 million BGN in grant aid to the National Railway Infrastructure Company under the Operational Programme for Transport, the government information service said. The aid will be used by the National Railway Infrastructure Company towards the electrification and reconstruction of a railroad section between Plovdiv and Svilengrad under a Trans-European project. The European Commission is yet to approve conclusively the project in excess of the budget under Priority Axis 1 of the OP Transport for development of the railway infrastructure. The money will come from uncontracted EU funds. Any shortfall will be covered by the state budget.
Source: Standart (29.12.2011)

Holding Bulgarian State Railways started selling its 5.6% stake in Allianz Bulgaria IRC, the Agency for Privatization and Post, which will move the process, reported. The sale is part of a strategy to reform the Railways in order to optimize its operations. Majority owner of Allianz Bulgaria IRC with 78% of the capital is Allianz Bulgaria Holding JSC. Share of 5.616% is held by National Railway Infrastructure Company. Among the other shareholders are BCCI with 0.177%, Despred JSC with 0.532%, Pamporovo JSC with 0.166%, Park-Hotel Moscow JSC and Sunny Day JSC with 0.083% each, etc. The profit of Allianz Bulgaria IRC for 2011 is BGN 12 million.
Source: Standart (18.04.2012)

Ministry of Finance stopped the budget subsidy for Holding Bulgarian State Railways SPJSC, because the company does not pay the loan installments to the World Bank, and has activated the State guarantee. The information was announced by Minister of Transport Ivaylo Moskov. It is a subsidy for two months, which is about BGN 26 million and is paid for trips at preferential prices to different customer groups. Instead for subsidizing activities, the funds have already gone for payments on loans of the railways. "The shortage of funds from the stopped subsidy of BDZ will be felt at the end of the year and it can get into very serious problems," said Moskov and predicted problems with payment of wages over the next 1-2 months. The management of the state company wants to transfer the obligation to the National Company Railway Infrastructure since the funds were spent on rehabilitation of the network and after the separation of the two companies in 2002 the debt remained on BDZ.
Source: Capital (16.07.2012)

The public tender for the overdue renovations of the Central Railroad Station in the Bulgarian capital Sofia has been launched Tuesday. The new was reported Thursday by the National Company Railroad Infrastructure. Documents can be purchased every workday until September 17 while the deadline for the bids is October 12. The rehabilitation is being co-financed by the EU Transport Operational Program. The deadline to complete all repair and renovation works is 26 months after the winning bid is announced. The repairs will focus on the main building and adjacent terrains. After their conclusion, the Sofia railroad station will turn into a modern and energy efficient hub with new window and door frames, new fire rescue system, new electric installation, improved communications, offering much more services, comfortable waiting areas, and handicap access to all levels. The very first building of the Sofia Railroad Station dates from 1988 and at the time it was the largest such facility on the Balkans. The current one was designed in 1964-1971 and built in 1972-1974. In the next 36 years the facility functioned without any repairs while crowds of passengers passed through it every day, leading to its crumbling and unpleasant atmosphere and look.
Source: Capital (31.08.2012)

BDZ and NRIC to attend Inno Trans 2012 Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) and the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) will attend Inno Trans, the largest International Trade Fair for Transport Technology - Innovative Components, Vehicles and Systems in the railway sector, to be held in Berlin September 18-21, 2012, the two companies announced. BDZ and NRIC will present at the exhibition a device providing easy access to railway transport for disabled people. They are doing this as a full-fledged partner in an international consortium for implementation of the EU-funded project PubTrans4All - Public Transportation - Accessibility for All. PubTrans4All is mainly aimed at developing and testing a model of a system designed to be installed and used by all types of rail vehicles. The developed model system meets all technical requirements.
Source: Class (19.09.2012)

A Bulgarian-German consortium to analyse the railway sector in Bulgaria Within a year, the Bulgarian-German Consortium InfraCare - TransCare will analyse the railway sector in Bulgaria. The analysis will be conducted in three phases and will be financed by Operational Programme Transport. The three contracts are worth BGN 2,064,000, VAT excluded. This was announced at a press conference where a project for preparing an analysis on the state of the railway sector in Bulgaria under Operational Programme Transport was presented. “The market demand for passenger services will be assessed under the first contract and measures for their optimisation will be projected,” Nelly Stoycheva from InfraCare explained at the press conference. The Transport Ministry expects the analysis to be useful in drafting a project for the purchase of new rolling stock for the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) Passenger Services during the next programming period of the operational programme. “An analysis of the administration and the personnel in the railway sector - BDZ, the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) and the Transport Ministry will be made under the second contract. Proposals for optimisation will be made on the basis of this analysis. The aim is to improve the efficiency of passenger services,” explained Stoycheva. The analysis projected under the third contract will contribute towards improving the work of NRIC within the projected State budget. “Solutions will be proposed for reducing the costs of maintaining infrastructure and optimisation of the centres for the management of transport. The aim is to improve the activities for maintaining the railway infrastructure,” Stoycheva specified. The first and the third contract are for a period of seven months and the second one is for 12 months. During the last month of the implementation, discussions will be held and the results will be announced at final press conferences.
Source: Class (26.09.2012)

It is possible that Holding Bulgarian State Railways transfers property to National Railway Infrastructure Company to repay debts. This was stated by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of BDZ, Vladimir Vladimirov. According to him, negotiations are already underway between the two companies and real estate valuations of land and buildings owned by BDZ have commenced. Hopefully by the end of the year the transfer would be finished, said Vladimir Vladimirov.
Source: Standart (29.09.2012)

Freight transport by state rival The state will create a rival of BDZ-Freight Services, which aims to reduce the cost of future projects for construction of new and repair of old railway lines. This is one of the main goals of the project to change the Law on Railway Transport, prepared by the Transport Ministry. The changes will remove the current ban for Railway Infrastructure (NRIC) to perform transport operations and creates conditions to create a rail carrier. For the first time since January 1, 2002 the same railway company will be able to maintain the railway network and transport by train. BDZ Holding will collapse three months after the sale of BDZ-Freight Services. According to sources the second aim of the change in law is to create conditions to form a new state holding between NRIC, BDZ Passenger Transport and Transport Constructions and Recovery (TCR). Although all three companies will remain separate in accounting within the future holding, the intercompany indebtedness between them will decrease and stabilize BDZ Passenger Transport and TCR.
Source: Standart (09.10.2012)

A European Court ruling may stop the creation of BDZ-2 A European Court ruling may block the amendments to the railway transport law, the bill on which was published two weeks ago on the website of the Ministry of Transport. According to these changes, the National Company Railway Infrastructure will have the right to provide its own transport. According to railway experts, these changes give the possibility of creating a holding company between the infrastructure and BDZ Passenger Transport. Such a holding pattern currently exists in Germany and Austria, where DeutcheBan (DB) and the Austrian Federal Railways (OBB), respectively, are responsible for the infrastructure and perform operator activities. Exactly these two cases, however, are currently at the lawsuit phase at the European Court for the application of criminal proceedings for failure of the First Railway Package. According to the European Commission, the existence of these holdings is against the application of the European requirements for liberalisation of the market. Advocate General at the Court Niilo Jaaskinen said that, legally speaking, the existence of these holdings is legal and does not violate the directives. According to him, there is no legal requirement for the railway infrastructure to be a separate entity from the passenger carrier. If the Court adopts a decision against DB and OBB, then, the eventual unification of NRIC and BDZ - Passenger Transport will result in taking up criminal action against Bulgaria. The topic "pros and cons" of holding structures will be the centre of the upcoming debates on the project about the Fourth Railway package of measures. According to the EC, the carrier should be completely separated from the infrastructure. Late in September, Commissioner Siim Kallas announced that he is sceptical about the ability of the companies maintaining the railway to provide equal conditions for all railway operators, given that they are their competitors.
Source: Class (19.10.2012)

Six companies want to revamp the Central railway station in Sofia Bulgaria's government is going to invest over BGN 1.5 million from EU Operational Program "Transport" to rehabilitate the Central Railway Station in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, Transport minister Ivaylo Mosvkoski announced. Moskovski attended Monday the opening of the bids submitted for the tender to revamp Sofia's train station which is notorious for lacking heating, and being squalid, not the least because of its megalomaniac design from the communist period. "The Central Railway Station in Sofia has not been revamped for more than 30 years," Moskovski said, as quoted by the press service of the Transport Ministry. He has praised his institution for succeeding in securing EU funding for its rehabilitation. "This project proves that when you have arguments even projects that had not originally been slated for funding can receive a green light. The firms applying in the tender to revamp the Sofia Train Station are – GBS-Central Railway Station Sofia, Civic Company Dous-SK-13, Terna AD, Central Railway Station 2012, Strabag Railway Station Sofia Consortium, Balkanstroy Reming Consortium. Once selected, the executer will have 26 months to rehabilitate the Central Railway Station in Sofia.
Source: Darik Radio (30.10.2012)

Central Railway Station Sofia on concession Central Railway Station in Sofia may be granted on concession, said Transport Minister Ivailo Moskov. Now the station is in the process of selecting a contractor for reconstruction, which is to be completed in 2015. After being upgraded, we will consider whether it is appropriate to grant it on a concession or not, Moskov said. We are currently running procedures for concessioning the railway station in Plovdiv and Varna. In case of high investment interest, we are ready to offer other railway stations for public-private partnership as well, said Moskov. We prepare procedures for concession of the entire Plovdiv Airport, as when only cargo terminal was proposed, there was no interest in it, the minister added.
Source: Standart (10.01.2013)

Five banks have filed a claim with the London Arbitration Court to declare the Bulgarian State Railways company, BDZ Holding, bankrupt. The information was reported Monday by the Bulgarian Trud (Labor) daily, citing own insider sources. The reason behind the claim is the staggering debt accumulated by BDZ, more precisely the so-called second bond for EUR 120 M. The credit was granted to the previous Cabinet of the Three Way Coalition and installments have not been paid in many months. The news has been confirmed for Trud by senior officials from the Transport Ministry and personally by the Chairman of the BDZ Board of Directors, Vladimir Vladimirov. The defaulted loan has been contracted with the French banks BNP Paribas and Societe Generale, the Austrian Creditanstalt and the Belgiun Dexia. About 15% of the loan has been granted by the Bulgarian First Investment Bank (FIB). Recently, to the surprise of railway experts, FIB purchased documentation for the tender to privatize the cargo unit of BDZ. The privatization procedure is expected to conclude by March, 2013. In addition to FIB, the other three final bidders that emerged are: the largest, private Romanian railway operator Grup Feroviar Roman, which is the owner of BRC, Kiril Domuschiev with the recently founded company Bulgarian Cargo Express and the Austrian Donau Finanz. The bankruptcy claim comes as a shock to the Holding since 1 500 cargo train cars are used as collateral in the loan, and they are in the best condition. All remaining cars are obsolete and need serious repairs. "Banks are fed up with these gimmicks. How can one expect something different when the loan has not been serviced in 3 years, and no one even picks up the phone when they call to ask what is happening with their money," a source from the Transport Ministry, quoted by Trud has said. According to Vladimirov, the claim does not aim at declaring the Holding bankrupt, but rather to appease the banks that they have some guarantees in getting their money back. He explains the bankruptcy claim must be examined by a Bulgarian Court, which is backed by the legal counsel of the Transport Ministry and of BDZ. The delayed payments for the loan in the last 3 years already amount to EUR 32 M. BDZ is negotiating with creditors now in an attempt to be granted another deferral. Meanwhile, it emerged last Friday that the main account of BDZ has been garnished on a request from the German bank KfW. According to estimates, BDZ currently owes KfW some EUR 41 M for Siemens Desiro electric trains it bought in 2005, a debt it does not manage to service as per the arranged schedule. If BDZ is to be declared bankrupt, the money would not be enough to cover the huge debt, estimated in the vicinity of a total of over BGN 720 M. In mid-November 2012, Bulgaria's Privatization Agency launched a second privatization procedure for BDZ's Freight Services, after the first one fell through. The second attempt to sell the cargo unit of BDZ will only include strategic and financial investors. The privatization of BDZ's profit making unit, Freight Services, is to secure money to cover huge debts of the company and help revive its other unit, Passenger Services. However, experts from the railway sector have already said the State should not count on receiving much as the revenues of the cargo unit dropped by 30% in 2012, while the debt keeps climbing up.
Source: Trud (05.02.2013)

Railway Infrastructure Authorized to be a carrier Government approved and offers the National Assembly to adopt amendments to the Railway Act. The project envisages the abolition of the prohibition for the manager of railway infrastructure or a company in which he participates and concession when he is manager of the railway infrastructure, to operate as railway carrier. Simultaneously are introduced provisions ensuring the management independence of the railway undertakings, as defined in the Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of the Community's railways. The purpose of the proposed changes is to create a new rail carrier to replace the struggling BDZ Holding. The government, however, specify that the project does not incorporate the National Company Railway Infrastructure (NRIC) with Holding Bulgarian State Railways, including subsidiaries of the holding company.
Source: Class (07.02.2013)

Bulgaria has shortlisted two bids in the tender for the reconstruction the central railway station in Sofia, Bulgaria’s state-run National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) said. The lower bid of 55.96 million levs was filed by tie-up GBS-Central Railway Station, led by construction company Glavbolgarstroy, NRIC said in a statement on its website on Thursday. The second bid, which amounts to 63.5 million levs, was submitted by consortium Balkanstroy Reming. The bids were given net of Value Added Tax (VAT). GBS-Central Railway Station has received 39.01 points for its technical offer while Balkanstroy Reming obtained 40 points. The reconstruction works will be financed under the EU-funded operational programme Transport.
Source: Capital (18.03.2013)

Credit Council saves BDZ A Credit Council will seek options to save Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ), said Transport Minister Kristian Krastev. The Council will include representatives of the main creditors of the company. Debts of the company are on two debenture loans and to KFW, from which were purchased railcars Siemens. The remainder on the first loan is BGN 6 million, but liabilities on the second and to the German company amount to BGN 493 million. According to the latest reschedulingg of the liabilities for the new trains, BDZ pays BGN 1.7 million a month from own revenues. At the same time, just over BGN 90 million are the debts to the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC). Failure by BDZ to pay the money is considered a kind of state assistance, and is subject to sanctions by the European Commission. Experts explained that the talks with creditors will be tough because they just want to collect the money. The Transport Ministry has repeatedly warned that if creditors want their debts immediately repaid, even the sale of all the assets of BDZ would not be sufficient to cover the accumulated debts from last 20 years.
Source: Monitor (18.03.2013)

National Railway Infrastructure Company is seeking an external contractor of the service maintenance of geographical information system. The forecasted value of the order is to the amount of BGN 66 thousand. The company that wins the auction is supposed to support the system for a period of 12 month from the date of singning the contract. The deadline for handing out offers is the 29th of March.The geographic information system is multifunctional and has a national span. It was developed exclusively for the needs of National Railway Infrastructure Company under a project from 2009.
Source: investor.bg (22.03.2013)

BGN 12.5 million expected from transit railroad traffic National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) expects about BGN 12.5 million revenues from infrastructure charges from the just negotiated 46 international cargo routes this and next years. One of these routes will pass through the new Danube Bridge 2 at Vidin-Calafat, which is expected to be put into operation no later than the end of May. The route has been agreed for the registered in Bulgaria with German capital rail carrier DB Schenker Rail Bulgaria, which from July 1 plans to launch direct cargo block trains between Germany and Turkey. At an international rail conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, NRIC has also negotiated cross-border freight routes with BDZ-Freight Services and Bulgarian Railway Company.
Source: Standart (29.03.2013)

National Railway Infrastructure Company has significant claims from BDZ "Holding" and BDZ Freight Services, which amount to nearly BGN 100 million. The company receives regular pay from BDZ Freight Services, after the railway company received its subsidy. The freight unit of BDZ does not pay its full contributions. National Railway Infrastructure Company’s budget is structured in such a way as the company to disposes with funds, which is to receive, but not to exceed its own resources. National Railway Infrastructure Company is ready to make compomises as far as debts of the national railway carrier are concerned. They are acquainted with the version for exchange of debts for property, which is to alleviate BDZ’s financial situation
Source: investor.bg (05.04.2013)

Two candidates appealed the auction for repair of Central Railway Station Sofia Two candidates vying for the repair of the Central Railway Station in Sofia appealed the choice of contractor. They are alliance Central Station Sofia 2012, which includes Stanilov, Trace Group Hold and GP Group and consortium Strabag - Sofia Railway Station, in which besides the Austrian company involves architectural studio Architectonics. The competition was organized by the owner of the station National Railway Infrastructure Company. The project is funded by EUR 20 million under Operational Programme Transport. The winner will have to modernize the building, pedestrian underpass, to set new ramp coverings and flooring, to build outdoor and underground parking and to increase the energy efficiency of the building within 26 months (after design). The competition was won by an alliance between Glavbolgarstroy, Vodstroy-98 and Industrial Construction Holding with an offer of BGN 56 million, without VAT.
Source: Capital (10.04.2013)

Three bid to build intermodal terminal in Bulgaria's Plovdiv A tender for the construction of an intermodal terminal near Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second biggest city, has attracted three eligible bids, the country's state-run railway infrastructure company NRIC said on Friday. Greek construction company Terna offered to do the job for 13.5 million levs ($9.0 million/6.9 million euro), value added tax excluded, as its bid got a technical score of 30, NRIC said in a statement upon opening the bids. The two other bidders - local construction company Trace Group Hold [BUL:T57] and Transport Construction and Rehabilitation-GU - received a technical score of 25 each, as they offered to build the terminal for 8.57 million levs and 9.99 million levs, respectively. The prices are net of value added tax. NRIC invited bids for the construction of the intermodal terminal in November. It plans to construct a terminal site, storage containers, special places for reefer units, office buildings, customs warehouse, as well as parking lots for trucks and cars, on a total area of 68,870 square metres. The project is co-financed under EU-funded operational programme Transport. The intermodal terminal will be part of EU-defined transport corridors IV, VIII and X.
Source: Capital (22.04.2013)

Bulgaria's State Railways Company Posted Losses of BGN 22 M in 2012 Bulgaria's State Railways Company (BDZ) ran up losses of BGN 22 M in 2012, according to the unaudited report of the company presented during a sitting of the public council at the Ministry of of Transport, Information Technology and Communications. The agenda of the sitting included a discussion of the situation of BDZ, according to reports of investor.bg. Citing the financial report, Filip Aleksiev, Financial Director of Holding BDZ, informed that the Passenger Services unit of BDZ had registered a profit of nearly BGN 3 M in 2012, while the Freight Services unit, for which a privatization procedure had been launched, had kept accumulating debts. He made clear that the negative trend had remained in place in the first quarter of 2013, with losses of over BGN 16.5 M for the period. Aleksiev noted that BDZ owed a total of BGN 707 M by March 31, 2013, of which BGN 487 M were debts to financial institutions. He announced that BDZ owed its suppliers a total of BGN 145 M, BGN 111 M of them overdue debts. The Financial Director of Holding BDZ pointed out that the main portion of the company's debts to its suppliers was owed to the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC). He said that the company's overdue debts to financial creditors amounted to BGN 154 M, the main portion of which was liabilities to the KfW bank and bondholders.
Source: investor.bg (24.04.2013)

Bulgaria has wrapped up a 70 mln levs ($47 million/35.8 million euro) project for the construction of a 18-kilometre electrified railway between the southern town of Svilengrad and the Turkish border, the transport ministry said on Thursday. The project was financed under the EU-funded operational programme Transport and was implemented by Czech company OHL ZS, the ministry said in a press release. As part of the construction works a new railway bridge on the Maritsa river was built.
Source: Capital (10.05.2013)

BDZ pays debts with hotels and bridges Debt to equity. This is one of the schemes under which BDZ will cover part of their huge debts, said Transport Minister Captain Danail Papazov. It is a transfer of rest homes and other properties from BDZ to Railway Infrastructure (NRIC) to cover the debt of BGN 100 million accumulated from years from infrastructure charges. Both movable bridges of the ferry complex Varna will be transferred to NRIC’s assets. It is time to regulate the relationship between BDZ and NRIC, Papazov said. BDZ has about 15 rest homes, some of which are large hotels at attractive locations - the sea, Hisar, Bansko, Vitosha, etc. The Holding holds a small rest homes as well as a boarding-house in Veliko Tarnovo. Three of the appetizing hotels – at Panichishte, "Journalist" and Primorsko, serve as collateral for loans from the KfW Bank for the purchase of the Siemens motor cars.
Source: Standart (04.06.2013)

Papazov: Of the 6 options to save BDZ Freight Services, two are privatization Railways are the first and most important thing to pay attention now, said Minister of Transport and Communications Daniel Papazov. According to him, there are six options for the future of the company, and four of them provide preservation of Freight Services, while two are privatization. These include options to swap debt for ownership of NRIC (which is one of the largest creditors of BDZ). Measures are provided for renegotiation of loans, increased freight and increase the comfort level of passenger transport. Asked whether changes in the management of BDZ and NRIC is considered, Papazov said such are probably going to happen at the infrastructure operator, but they are unlikely to be significant. He added that at this stage he trusted CEO of BDZ Chavdar Trendafilov, as well as the heads of BDZ Passenger Services and BDZ Freight Services.
Source: money.bg (10.06.2013)

Bulgaria is looking for a strategic investor for the posts The future of "Bulgarian Posts" is in finding a strategic partner to take the company and to improve its operations. That said the Transport Minister Danail Papazov. According to him, the activities of the state-owned company can be improved by outsourcing certain activities. Papazov pointed out that it's not about pure privatization. According to him, a private company would never be interested by losing branches of post offices in remote villages. "The option is some form of public-private partnership. We are at the beginning of the idea", said the minister. Papazov argued that the problem is related to the postal universal service which they provide at low prices. He explained that these years for the Posts are allocated 2 million levs, and the actual cost of providing the universal service is 22 million levs.(inews.bg)
Source: Other (11.06.2013)

The state stops layoffs and starts to invest in BDZ as the goal is the company to be revitalized, said Transport Minister Daniel Papazoff. For the past 4 years 4701 people of BDZ has been laid off, which is 40% of the staff, fromNRIC were fired 3173 people, or 20%. The program of the ministry pledged repayment of BDZ Holding. This will be phased under the scheme debt to equity. After the BDZ administration is moved, the ownership of the building will be transferred to the NRIC and announced for sale. Non-operating assets and scrap stocks go on sale immediately.
Source: econ.bg (05.07.2013)

The Government Restructures Funds for Highways Bulgaria's Socialist-endorsed Cabinet of Prime Minister, Plamen Oresharski, has decided to redirect EUR 20 M from the highway construction funds to railroad projects for the 2014-2020 program period. The information was reported by the government press office Wednesday. The funds come from the EU operational program Transport slated for highways and will be directed to the National Company Railraod Infrastructure, NKZI, on grounds funds for it are depleted. The move has been made to give the European Commission a green light to approve changes in the Transport program which have been delayed since the end of 2012. The delay has led to the use of State budget financing for the construction of the subway in the capital Sofia.
Source: Capital (11.07.2013)

NRIC becomes hotelier to save BDZ The Council of Ministers approved the proposal through which BDZ will sell some real estate through direct negotiations. Debt to equity scheme is part of the reorganization plan of the railroad prepared by the new government as the state carrier must repay to the infrastructure company obligations of over BGN 100 million. The ball, however, remains in the infrastructure company. In addition to not receiving much-needed fresh money, NRIC will have to enter a new field, unusual for a company managing railroads and train stations - the hotel business. The transfers of property are expected to take place in three stages. This move is expected to reduce the obligations of BDZ to NRIC by roughly BGN 15 million. BGN 5 million of them will come from the transfer of properties like the holiday home in Dobrinishte and the rehabilitation center in Kyustendil, as well as several smaller and less attractive. Roughly BGN 10 million is the estimated value of the facilities of BDZ in the ferry complex in Varna (elevation-transitional bridges), which inexplicably remained in the assets of the carrier after its separation from the infrastructure company years ago. Valuation of assets, however, is still ongoing.
Source: Capital (08.08.2013)

Sofia Central Railway Station to be renovated for BGN 56 million The GBS-Sofia Central Station consortium won the contract for renovating the Central Railway Station in Sofia for BGN 55.96 million excluding VAT. The agreement will be signed on Thursday in the presence of Transport Minister Daniel Papazov and National Railway Infrastructure Company chief engineer Milcho Lambrev. The consortium GBS-Sofia Central Station combines three companies: Glavbolgarstroy, Vodstroy 98 and Industrial Construction Holding. The consortium won the race of six candidates. From these, only the bids of two were accepted. Greek Terna, Austrian Strabag for example were disqualified from the tender for various reasons. After the end of the renovation in the fall of 2015, the Central Railway Station in Sofia will be completely renovated. It will have an energy independent, high-tech and energy-efficient air conditioning system. The landscape around the station will be entirely transformed and the platforms and escalators will be replaced. During the rehabilitation, the Central Railway Station in Sofia will continue to function normally. During the renovation on one level, the ticket offices, notice boards and facilities of the other level will be fully operational.
Source: Standart (22.08.2013)

Oldest BG railway line to be modernized from EUR 306m to connect Ruse - Varna ports The Ruse-Varna railway line, the oldest of its kind in Bulgaria, will be renovated for an indicative cost of EUR 305.7 million, Stiliyan Krotnev, the head of the " Strategic Development and Investment Projects" from "Railway Infrastructure" informed. Krotnev hopes that after the tenders the costs will shrink somewhat. The modernization of the railway line will be financed by the new "Transport" operational program. The project was prepared by the Bulgarian- Italian consortium "Eurotransproject-Net Engineering", Standart learnt. The route is divided into two sections - a single 135 km railway line between Rousse and Kaspichan and a 97 km double track between Kaspichan and Varna. After the renovation, the tracks will be able to support passenger trains up to a speed of 130 km/h and cargo trains up to the speed of 100 km/h. The aim is to increase the average speed of movement from the current 40 to 50 km/h to over 70 km/h, which will enable the growth of freight traffic between the ports of Ruse and Varna. The line forms the shortest direct link between the trans-European transport corridors VII and VIII through the Sindel station. However, this would necessitate EU funding for the upgrade of the Karnobat- Sindel connection, which is the worst track in Bulgaria. Its renovation has been delayed for two decades, Krotnev noted.
Source: Standart (16.09.2013)

A| new railway ring between the industrial zones near Plovdiv to be constructed New railway ring will connect within a radius of 50 km around Plovdiv the settlements and industrial areas in the municipalities of Maritsa, Rakovski and Kuklen. Thus provide a link between the places where more than 115,000 residents of the area live and their workplace, said Vice-Mayor of Maritza Stefan Tsankov in the forum "Real Estate - Construction, services and problems of the market environment", organized within the International Technical Fair. Studies of the initiators of the construction of the railway link established that the OP Transport could fund the project. The only possible beneficiary of the funds, however, is National Company Railway Infrastructure
Source: Monitor (02.10.2013)

Bulgaria’s NRIC gets three bids for Burgas rail station upgrade Bulgaria’s state-run National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) said it has received three eligible bids for the rehabilitation of the railway station of the city of Burgas on the Black Sea coast. The lowest bid of BGN 6.07 million was placed by tie-up Devnya Stroy Engineering, consisting of local construction companies Devnya Trade, Giga Stroy and Eurobuilding Engineering, a notice filed by NRIC showed. This bid received the highest mark of 28 points for its technical proposal. The other two bids were filed by consortia Gara Pirgos 2013 and Railway Infastructure Burgas for BGN 9.06 million and BGN 7.21 million respectively. The project is co-financed under the EU-funded operational programme Transport 2007-2013.
Source: Standart (01.11.2013)

Tender for intermodal terminal in Ruse about to fail again Commission for Protection of Competition reversed the decision of the Director General of the National Company Railway Infrastructure (NRIC) to determine the contractor for preliminary study on intermodal terminal in Ruse. The Commission found out that the state company violated the law for public tenders as it hasn’t included in the Evaluation Committee experts with qualifications and experience in the preparation of feasibility studies and detailed plans in the field of railway infrastructure. Thus the commission returned the case to the contracting authority for appointment of a new commission for the procedure. Value of the project for intermodal terminal in Ruse is assessed at EUR 2.5 million. Its construction is planned to start in the beginning of 2015.
Source: investor.bg (25.11.2013)

Solvay Chemicals to boost Europe's largest soda ash plant in Bulgaria by BGN 55 million Within the next two years chemicals giant Solvay will invest BGN 55 million in its plant in Bulgaria's Devnia for a new distiller, general manager for Bulgaria and CEO Spyros Nomikos informed. The construction of the new distillery will significantly reduce production costs, consume less steam and emit less CO2 in Europe's largest soda ash plant. The Devnia plant is the biggest of its kind in Europe and is second or third in the world. 90% of its production is exported. Nomikos revealed that the company is facing a serious challenge from Turkey in the soda ash market. Within 2-3 years, Bulgaria's neighbour will open a new plant which will have twice the capacity of the Devnia plant - 3 million tons per year. In addition, it will produce for roughly 40% lower costss as compared to the plants in Europe, due to a lack of rigorous environmental regulations. As a result, over the next year, the group will close its plant in Portugal and will reduce the capacity of its factory in Italy. Solvay Chemicals, a world leading producer of essential chemicals including soda ash, caustic soda, hydrogen peroxide and special chemicals, is also celebrating the 150th anniversary of the founding of the company. the chemicals giant was created by the Belgian scientist and entrepreneur Ernest Solvay in 1863 , when he was only 25 years old. Ever since, the group is one of the oldest multinational companies in the world and is recognized as a world leader in chemical production. Its breakthrough came after finding a new way for the production of soda ash, which continues to be used worldwide after 150 years.
Source: Standart (25.11.2013)

Holding Roads opted for insolvency After several years of worsening financial results, failed attempt for insolvency, distraint on accounts and concerns that the company will not fulfill won orders Holding Roads officially acknowledged that it is likely to fail to meet its obligations. The company announced that it has filed a claim for bankruptcy because of poor financial performance. The claim is not a big surprise as financial reports of the company showed big debts, decreasing revenues and accumulation of losses. If the court accepts the claim this will be the consecutive infrastructure company, owned by Vasil Bozhkov that goes into bankruptcy. Before this such procedure was by entered Moststroy and its subsidiaries, as well as subsidiaries of Infra Holding. As to the end of September Holding Roads’ accounts in First investment bank and Unicredit bank are still impounded at the request of UBB to the amount of BGN 7.6 million. Due to unpaid installments on loans to Unicredit Bulbank property of Bourgas Shipyards was sold at a tender. It was mortgaged under the debt of the holding. Over BGN 1 million was received from the sale which resulted in reduction of part of the company’s debts.
Source: Capital (28.11.2013)

Bulgaria’s Trace Group moves to EUR 3.7 mln cons profit Jan-Sept Bulgarian construction company Trace Group Hold reported on Wednesday a nine-month consolidated profit of BGN 7.3 million, versus a loss of BGN 2.1 million a year earlier. The company’s consolidated revenue dropped by 22.5% to BGN 180.9 million in the period from January to September 2013, it said in its financial report. Costs fell by 36% to BGN 173 million. Trace Group expects for 2013 consolidated net sales of BGN 240.5 million, down 18.87% on the year.
Source: Capital (29.11.2013)

Bulgarian Posts face loss of BGN 15 million in 2013: minister Bulgarian Posts faced a loss of BGN 15 million in 2013 if the subsidy is not taken into consideration. Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Danail Papazov announced the news at a press conference, FOCUS News Agency reported. BGN 223 million were invested in the National Railway Infrastructure Company in 2013 and BGN 16 million - in Varna Port. Sofia Airport made a profit of BGN 12.7 million last year and Varna Port handled 10.8 million tonnes of cargo, which is a record high since it opened.
Source: Agency Focus (17.01.2014)

Bulgaria’s NRIC reports slight growth in transportation The National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) expects to end 2013 with an accounting loss of BGN 25,150. The figures were reported at a presentation of the work done by the company in 2013, which takes place in the town of Stara Zagora, FOCUS News Agency journalist reported. Revenues expected from infrastructure fees are estimated at BGN 68,594. For the first time since 2012 the company reports a slight growth in the second half of 2013 and increase of the gross ton-kilometres and train-kilometres.
Source: Agency Focus (22.01.2014)

Debts of BDZ are BGN 625 million General obligations of the Holding Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) are BGN 625 million, announced Transport Minister Daniel Papazov in the parliament. "Of these, BGN 89 million is to NRIC," he commented, adding that the accounting loss is reduced to BGN 5.5 million. "Almost all lenders have agreed delays of payments, which would give a breath of fresh air to BDZ for implementation of program of renewal of the wagon-park and repairs," he said. Signing of an agreement with major creditors is expected in early February, but government guarantees are still under negotiation. "Lately, due to the stabilization and the fact that we began to pay principal, talks are going in a positive direction," Minister said. "Since September we have a significant increase in load of BDZ Freight Services - over 35%," he said.
Source: Monitor (23.01.2014)

Bulgarian State Railways to purchase new carriages worth BGN 150 mln: minister Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) will purchase new carriages worth BGN 150 million. Danail Papazov, Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, announced the news, Radio FOCUS – Plovdiv reported. Mr Papazov opened the modernisation of the Plovdiv-Stamboliyski railway section at an official ceremony in Bulgaria’s second biggest city Plovdiv. He remarked the carriages would not be bought before the BDZ’s debt was re-negotiated with creditors. The Bulgarian government will hold a meeting on February 6 in Vienna in which debt rescheduling will be discussed. In Mr Papazov’s words, the debt could be repaid for a period of 10 years. The Bulgarian ministry hopes there will be a capital transfer of BGN 30 million immediately after the debt rescheduling [is negotiated]. This wil repeated for the next several years and only after that a public procurement for the purchase of new carriages will be announced.
Source: Agency Focus (04.02.2014)

Central railway station renewed by a mall Sofia-based central railway station will be renovated, as new 11 thousand square meters of commercial area, just like in a small mall, will be constructed. This will happen immediately after repair of the building is over. Funds are provided under operational programme Transport. The repair is assessed to nearly BGN 75 million. Renovation will be made in two stages. At an area of 11 thousand square meters construction of several restaurants, fast food chains, stores and a super market are envisaged. Underground garage with an area of 700 square meters will be built, too. There will be outdoors paid parking, located at an area of 5785 square meters, too.
Source: Monitor (04.04.2014)

Repair Works Start at Bulgaria's Sofia Central Railway Station The repair of the Central Railway Station in Sofia has been launched with an official ceremony Thursday, announced Bulgaria's National Railway Infrastructure Company. The contractor under public procurement order for the design and construction is DZZD "Alliance GBS - Sofia Central Railway Station" and the construction supervision will be carried out by DZZD "Alliance TRT". The project is worth BGN 62M VAT excluded, according to the latest information published on the webiste of the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC). Among the project objectives is the complete architectural renovation of the entrance building in order to meet energy efficiency requirements. Construction works are planned to be completed by end-2015. The repair of the Central Railway Station in Sofia is part of a project for the rehabilitation of railway stations including those in the cities of Burgas and Pazardzhik, financed by the European Regional Development Fund.
Source: Darik Radio (04.04.2014)

Bulgaria’s NRIC invests 5.3 mln euro in software systems Bulgaria’s National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) said on Wednesday it will invest 10.4 million levs ($7.3 million/5.3 million euro) in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The ERP system will help the state-operated company to integrate the activities of all departments and units within the company, NRIC said in a press release. The project, which is scheduled to be completed by August 2015, will be implemented by a tie-up consisting of local IT company Adven Bulgaria and Czech IT company Ness Technologies. The two companies will make an analysis of NRIC’s processes and will introduce management modules form assets, project systems, human resources, finances, projects, sales and distribution, NRIC added. The project is financed under the EU-funded operational programme Transport 2007-2013. The value is given value-added tax (VAT) included. (1 euro=1.95583 Bulgarian levs)
Source: Novinar (22.05.2014)

BG National Railway Company launches high-speed train project The National Railway Infrastructure Company is preparing a project for a high-speed train connection between Bulgaria's Varna and Romania's Bucharest. The first stage will involve reconstruction of the Varna – Rousse railway stretch, for which a tender procedure is to be called in the second half of the year. If the project is successful it will take around 3 hours to travel from Varna to Bucharest. The projected value of the contract is EUR 898 million. It will be funded via Operational Program "Transport". An average of 780 people a day travel on the oldest railway in Bulgaria. In comparison, the Danube Bridge 1 is crossed by some 3000 cars, 2000 trucks and 100 buses a day.
Source: econ.bg (17.06.2014)

Bulgaria starts 4.1 million euro upgrades of Burgas railway station Bulgarian transport minister Danail Papazov signed contracts for upgrade of the Burgas railway station on the Black Sea coast totaling more that BGN 8 million, the transport ministry said on Monday. Local company Zhelezopatna infrastruktura Burgas will carry out the repair works while construction supervision services will be implemented by tie-up Rubikon-NR 1, the transport ministry said in a press release. The project is financed under EU-funded operational programme Transport.
Source: investor.bg (15.07.2014)

Deutsche Bahn takes over BDZ BDZ and the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) may be restructured under German model, which means bringing them together in a holding company. This is one of the ideas discussed between Prime Minister Oresharski and representatives of the German consulting and engineering services in transport company Deutsche Bahn International. The meeting was organized at the request of the German Embassy, attended by the management of Bulgarian transport ministry. We need practical solutions to change the vision of the development of the railways, rather than consulting projects to look good on the shelves, said Prime Minister Oresharski. The management at BDZ can become international if we agree on the terms and price for it with Deutsche Bahn International, added Transport Minister Daniel Papazov at the Council of Ministers.
Source: Standart (17.07.2014)

EIB to Assist Bulgarian Railway Infrastructure Co in Tariff Formation The European Investment Bank (EIB) is to provide technical aid to Bulgaria's National Company Railway Infrastructure (NRIC). The EIB is to cooperate with Bulgaria's NRIC on the formation of a tariff policy for the access and use of the railway infrastructure under the Operational Program "Transport" 2007-2013. The decision adopted by the Bulgarian government on Wednesday aims to pave the way for concrete actions for the preparation of a proposal for a new tariff policy and a methodology for calculating infrastructure fees collected by the NRIC from the railway carriers in line with EU Directives and national law. The signing and the implementation of the Agreement is to guarantee equal and fair access to the railway infrastructure for all transport operators, quality services and appropriate management of the demand for access to infrastructure, streamlined management and control of resources and optimized maintenance and exploitation of the existing railway infrastructure, greater transparency of the management of the NRIC and the introduction of good business practices, greater competition on the transport market and consistency with the state goals in the sphere of transport.
Source: Duma (24.07.2014)

State allocated BGN 15 million for NRIC projects Bulgarian government allocated extra BGN 15 million to the budget of the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The funds will cover co-financing part of the National Railway Infrastructure Company for the implementation of major railway projects financed under OP "Transport" 2007-2013, the government press office said. Necessary financial resources for carrying out the costs associated with the corresponding co-financing of NRIC to the end of 2014 for the projects, implemented by the company under OP Transport, total BGN 63.141 million, without VAT. This move will help be secured the implementation of activities in three infrastructure projects: reconstruction and electrification of the railway line Plovdiv-Svilengrad (section Parvomai-Svilengrad), modernization of railway station Plovdiv in September and rehabilitation of railway infrastructure sections of the railway line Plovdiv-Burgas.
Source: Class (16.10.2014)

Bulgaria's BDZ, NRIC suffer fin damages from thefts Bulgarian state-operated railway companies BDZ and Bulgaria's National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) have endured thefts amounting to a total value of BGN 1.6 million in the period from the beginning of the year to mid-October, the two companies said. NRIC reported thefts amounting to BGN 1.06 million during the period while BDZ reported losses amounting to BGN 500,000, the two companies said on Tuesday in separate press releases. The passenger unit of BDZ, BDZ Patnicheski Prevozi, has reported around BGN 400,000 in losses from thefts, while its cargo unit, BDZ Tovarni Prevozi, has suffered theft-related damages of more than BGN 100,000. In addition, a series of violations, including intentionally placing large objects on railway lines, throwing stones at trains and deliberately stopping freight trains with the sole purpose of robbing them, have continued to cause material and financial damages to the companies concerned. The most important repercussion of such actions, however, is that they undermine the safety of trains, as well as the lives and well-being of the companies' customers and employees, the press releases said. Such attacks could also cause crashes and other unforeseen developments.
Source: 24 chasa (06.11.2014)

BGN 490 million from EU invested in railway projects So far BGN 490 million have been paid to National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) for implementation of major railway projects in the country, said Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski during an inspection of modernization of the railway line Dimitrovgrad - Svilengrad. The project is funded under the Operational Programme Transport (2007 - 2013). The first lot of the route Dimitrovgrad - Harmanli is 70% ready and the construction contract is worth nearly BGN 143 million.
Source: Monitor (28.11.2014)

The third consecutive attempt for sale of the state site on Pioner station turned up to be unsuccessful, as well. The reason is that the Transport ministry has annulled auctions due to declared investment interest for the two properties with an area of 36 acres so that they are concessioned. The decision for their sale was made by Plamen Oresharski’s government. The deadline for handing out offers was in November. The property with an area of 16 acres was announced with an initial price of BGN 5.2 million VAT excluded. The other real estate of 20 acres was declared with an initial price of BGN 8.3 million VAT excluded. In accordance with Sofia’s general development plan the ex Pioner station has to turn into a park with sports facilities. The envisaged construction is only on 20% of the site.
Source: mediapool.bg (16.12.2014)

Over 20 projects wait for Chinese investors Minister of Transport Ivaylo Moskovski said in Ruse that Bulgaria gave a list of over 20 projects to Chinese investors. The problem is that Chinese investors want state guarantees for every single dollar they invest. This contradicts financial policy of the EU, Mr Moskovski explained. Bulgaria seeks financing for some major transport projects from the European Investment Bank as well.
Source: Standart (18.12.2014)

Bulgarian state railways’ debt amounts at BGN 567 mln: head The total debts of the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) up to the present date amount at BGN 567 million, as some BGN 370 million is debts to the banks. The rest of the debts are to distributors and to the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC). All these debts have been amassed over the past periods, as the process of debt accumulation started in 2002 until 2009. Starting with BGN 200 million debt in 2002, in 2009 the debts had reached almost BGN 850 million. In other words, we see some drastic increase of the debts, which the system cannot handle. The good thing is that as a result of the efforts of the BDZ itself and of the state institutions the debts have been seriously cut. In his words, the future of the BDZ is connected with many difficulties. Small amount of money from the state budget is allocated for the railways. Another reason is the fact that the railways are not a priority for the Bulgarian state. The BDZ was not a priority for any of the governments, of any political party, no matter which one was in power. This hampers the development of the railways. He stressed that there is a need to reach an agreement among all institutions related to the state railways and to outline the BDZ as a priority, so as to let it develop. Mr Vladimirov also pointed at the fact that not enough money had been assigned for investments in the state railways. “It is impossible to have competitive railways without investments. I understand that the situation is very hard at the moment – there are problems at the National Electricity Company (NEK), there are problems with the pension system, as well as in many other fields. However, if we do not consider the railways a priority, its problems will never be solved,” Vladimir Vladimirov remarked.
Source: Agency Focus (22.12.2014)

BDZ Rehabilitation Plan Provide for Lv 210-430 Mln Investment The plans are to dismiss about 1,200 staff from BDZ - 600 each from passenger and freight services. There will be no mass layoffs, the staff will be reduced when the people retire and be the result of normal outflow, Moskovski said. The strategy allows BDZ Freight to be privatized, holding Director Vladimir Vladimirov said. Transport, Information Technology and Communications Minister Ivaylo Moskovski underscored that both documents should be subject to public debate and parts of them could be changed. The sale of inoperative assets such as rolling stock, engines, terrains and resthouses could bring in at least 69 million leva. A mechanism to settle the debts of BDZ to the National Railway Infrastructure Company to the amount of 75 million leva has also been designed.
Source: Duma (08.04.2015)

National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) became part of the European Commission initiative to reduce the risks of cyber-attacks. NRIC was invited to join by Bulgarian Posts as the only representative from Bulgaria. The Advanced Cyber Defence Centre (ACDC) project is worth EUR 15.5 billion. The aim is development and implementation of innovative software to combat parasitic software like BOTNET, which penetrates into large networks of computers and access the contents of the computer without the knowledge of its owner. Software implementation of anti-botnet strategy in the network of Bulgarian Posts and interested parties will be the basis for solving the problem of cybersecurity at the national level.
Source: Novinar (12.05.2015)

Cabinet transfers properties for intermodal terminal in Plovdiv Bulgaria’s cabinet approved on May 20 the transfer of 11,000 sq m of land to the National Railway Infrastructure Company that will be part of an intermodal transport terminal in the Plovdiv region. The intermodal terminal project has a budget of more than BGN 13 million. Funding is coming from the EU’s Regional Development Fund, via the Transport 2007 – 2013 Operational Programme, with national co-financing from the state. Construction began in June 2014 and is scheduled for completion in December 2015. The intermodal transport terminal is being built in the area of the T. Kableshkov railway station, part of the Plovdiv railway network. It will include facilities for lorries, storage for containers, an administrative building, customs control and warehouse and parking for cars. The contractor is Trace Group Hold and construction supervision is being carried out by Rubicon-Test. The aim of the project is to develop intermodal transport facilities and the development of railway infrastructure in line with EU policy, and is intended to improve the quality of transport services in Bulgaria. The idea is to reduce costs for transport companies and thus for end-users.
Source: econ.bg (21.05.2015)

Transport company took the license for train services in Bulgaria Transport company DB Schenker Rail Bulgaria will again perform railway transport in the country. Executive Agency Railway Administration (EARA) handed the company the reissued license. The company also received the safety certificates. The renewed safety certificate confirms the system for safety management in the European Union in accordance with Directive 2004/49/EC and applicable national legislation. DB Schenker Rail works throughout Europe, the company represented in the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, England, France, Spain and Poland.
Source: Novinar (02.06.2015)

TBD-Tovarni prevozi SPJSC got license for a railway carrier In the days between 15th and 19th June ministry of Transport issued license of TBD-Tovarni prevozi SPJSC for railway transportation of goods. The company is fully owned by Thermal Power Plant Bobov dol, part of Kovachki’s energy portfolio. Executive Agency Railway Administration, part of the Transport ministry once refused license to the company. Kovachki due to his business in the energy sector is the largest customer of BDZ-Freight Service, which means that the state company will part with still another serious aspect of its source of revenues. In addition, freight forwarders who organize shipments of coal from the mines have obligations to BDZ – Freight Service and with the receipt of transport independence incentives for their payment will reduce. Thirdly the state will again try to sell BDZ – Freight Service, whose attractiveness will seriously decrease if its largest customer drops. Now Kovachki’s railway company is to pass the procedure for getting license for safety in order to conclude a deal with National Company Railway Infrastructure for access to the network.
Source: Capital (29.06.2015)

Three Bulgarian projects approved of by Connecting Europe The European Commission unveiled a record EUR13.1 billion investment plan in 276 transport projects, selected under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). This investment will unlock additional public and private co-financing for a combined amount of EUR 28.8 billion. Three Bulgarian projects are also approved of within the programme. These are two projects for modernization of railway sections Sofia - Bankya (with European funding to the amount of EUR 76,336,879) and Sofia - Elin Pelin (with European funding assessed at EUR 57,786,910). They are drafted by the National Company Railway Infrastructure. The third one is of the Executive Agency for inspection and maintenance of the Danube river and is focused on improvement of shipping on the Danube River (with European funding is EUR 5,965,980). With investment to the amount of EUR 13.1 billion, additional public and private funding assessed at EUR 28.8 billion will be attracted. Together with the future European fund for strategic investment Connecting Europe Facility will play a major role for fighting shortage of investment all over the continent, which is a leading priority of the Commission.
Source: Construction City (29.06.2015)

Multifunctional sports complex in Zona B-5-4 ready by the end of July 22 It is expected that by the end of July construction work on Multifunctional sports complex in Zona B-5-4 will be over. Thus by the middle of August the site will be entered into exploitation. The multifunctional sports complex is part of the project for Vazrazhdane Park and is funded under JESSICA initiative. The site will be situated at an area of 23 897 square meters, as the total sum for its completion is assessed at BGN 3 026 795. Union KGroup Sport, composed of Kalistratov group OOD and easy Bulgaria AD will build the complex. Supervision is handed out to Sofinvest EOOD. (âåñòíèê ñòðîèòåë)
Source: Other (21.07.2015)

Barn at the central railway station becomes sports hall with 1000 places Sofia will take pride with a new attraction this autumn. After Central railway station’s repair is over, anew sports hall will open doors at the place. The premise is almost finished. It will have separate entrance and is located at little distance from that of the station. The hall has an area of 1500 square meters. It has a premise for fitness, coaching offices and locker rooms. The hall is multifunctional. Its size is 48 to 30 meters, which makes it suitable for several sports such as basketball and volleyball
Source: 24 chasa (27.07.2015)

Congratulations Kovachki! Starting today he is not a customer but a competitor to BDZ Executive Agency Railway administration issued the safety certificate of the railway company of the businessman Hristo Kovachki a week ago. Today it is officially served. This is the document that makes the Bobov Dol mine boss a full-fledged competitor of BDZ. In July Kovachki obtained a license for carrying out railway transport and the only obstacle was that his company had no safety certificate. To obtain this document usually companies wait up to four months. However, the procedure in this case passed in short time – within less than a month. The news was officially confirmed by the Ministry of Transport. Kovachki’s intentions are to give up the services of BDZ-Freight Services this month that previously drove his ore from the mines to the TPPs. All rail carriers must seek paths for passage by the National Company Railway Infrastructure, which manages the railways in Bulgaria. No such request has yet been lodged by the new carrier.
Source: Club Z (04.09.2015)

Consultant will prepare a strategy for the concession of the intermodal terminal in Plovdiv Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications seeks a contractor to prepare concession analyzes (technical, financial, legal and environmental analysis) for granting concessions "Intermodal Terminal in South Central Planning Region in Bulgaria - Plovdiv". Bids are received till September 7, 2015 and will be opened on 8 September at 10:30. The second part of the work of the consultant is to prepare a draft justification of the concession, the concession contract, documentation for participation in the open procedure and the decision to initiate the procedure. Intermodal terminal near Plovdiv, the first constructed in the country with public funds, will be ready in early 2016. The first sod was made this year. National Railway Infrastructure Company concluded this year a series of contracts for the preparation of railway projects. One of them is railway junction "Plovdiv". The investment in the site, according to the designers Transgeo, amounts to about BGN 321 million without VAT.
Source: Construction City (08.09.2015)

Who waits for the Central Railway Station? The first repair of the building for 40 years now has been started in April 2014. The order for reconstruction was won in the end of the summer of 2013 by a union between GBS, Vodstroj 98 and Industrial Construction Holding. It is assessed at BGN 56 million. The plan is project to be completed by the end of the year, or at the beginning of the coming 2016 at the latest. Total retail space in the renovated facility is 11 thousand square meters. Several months ago LS travel retail Bulgaria, a subsidiary of the French retailer Lagardere Services (LS), which is focused on management of retail space in airports, metro stations, railway and bus stations and malls made an offer to the company that operates Central Railway station-National company for railway infrastructure. The building is divided into three sections in both its repair and letting - central, northern and southern. The proposal of the French operator is to take up the management of the main part of the space with the scheme which was utilized in central bus station nearby. LS has a 10-year contract for management of the central bus station, which practically means that it holds 1,500 square meters of retail space there. While the repairs are not completed, the state company cannot take any steps towards renting of retail space, grouping of objects can certainly not be allowed, as well as the possibility of subletting.
Source: Capital (09.10.2015)

Trace signed a contract with NRIC to repair the railroad for over BGN 4.75 million Trace Group Hold AD signed a contract with National Company Railway Infrastructure (NRIC) to repair the rail section worth BGN 4.755 mln without VAT, the road holding informed. On October 13, the company has signed a contract with NRIC for repair of railway infrastructure and its facilities in the area Podvis-Prilep with length of 4410 meters. The deadline for implementation is 110 calendar days . The plot Podvis-Prilep is situated in a third main rail line Iliyantsi-Stolnik-Karlovo-Tulovo-Dabovo -Zimnitsa and Komunari-Karnobat-Sindel from km 25 + 185 to km 29 + 595 in hilly terrain. The last overhaul of the section was performed in 90s of the last century and now it is in extremely bad condition, says the CEO of Trace Miroslav Manolov.
Source: investor.bg (20.10.2015)

Bulgaria's NRIC opens EUR 64 mln railway upgrade tender Bulgaria's National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) is seeking a contractor for upgrades worth EUR 125.2 million on the Sofia - Elin Pelin railway section, the company said in a public procurement notice. After the planned upgrades the electrified double railway track line with an approximate length of 23 km aim should support speed of 160 km per hour for passenger trains and 120 km per hour for freight trains, NRIC said in a notice published on the website of the Public Procurement Agency. The works, which should be completed in 48 months, include reconstructing three railway stations.
Source: Capital (17.11.2015)

Bondholders of BDZ began selling real estates of the company Arrears of the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) have already led to the first sale of a building of the transport holding, shows the Register of public sales of the Chamber of Private Enforcement Agents. The offer is for the administrative building of the Transport Police, which is owned by BDZ Holding. The Police is no longer housed there and the property is uninhabited. The procedure is triggered by the creditors under the second bond issue of BDZ, in which there are arrears of years and they cannot collect their claims. The sale will begin on January 12 and will last a month, as the initial tender price is BGN 2.732 million. So far, because of late payments to creditors, only wagons were being sold. Now, however, launches the sales of real estate, as this will hardly be the only sale of a building owned by the holding.
Source: Capital (12.01.2016)

Bulgarian Trasnport Minister Halts Public Tenders for Port, Railway Infrastructure Bulgarian Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski has ordered the suspension of public procurement procedures for the construction of port and railway infrastructure. The halted tenders concern the Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company and the National Railway Infrastructure Company. Among the halted procedures is the BGN 6 M tender for the construction of WiFi network on the territory of the ports in Varna and Burgas. No contractor has yet been selected for the construction of the WiFi network and the tender will be reviewed once again, daily Sega informs. Several tenders concerning the railway sector have also been cancelled, including a procedure for the purchase of rails. The suspension of the tenders has been justified with the need for optimisation of the financial resources of the state company. The decision of Moskovski comes after Prime Minister Boyko Borisov ordered all ministers to review the public tenders concerning their ministries and state companies. This is the latest in a series of public tenders which have been halted for suspected irregularities and lack of transparency in the selection procedure.
Source: Monitor (17.03.2016)

Bulgarian Cabinet Allocates BGN 208 M to Vital Railway Projects At its regular meeting on Wednesday, the Bulgarian government approved the allocation of up to BGN 208 M for the completion of ten vital railway projects. The funds will be transferred from the central budget to that of the transport ministry, the government's press service informs. The funds will be allocated to projects which are being implemented under the Transport Operational Programme for the 2007-2013 programme period. Among them are projects concerning the three main railway routes, namely Septemvri-Plovdiv, Plovdiv-Burgas and Parvomay-Svilengrad. The funds will be provided as temporary interest-free financial aid, which is subject to reimbursement to the National Railway Infrastructure Company in its capacity as beneficiary under the operational programme.
Source: 24 chasa (24.03.2016)

the national budget continues to pour money into failed project". The government decided to provide 208 million leva to the state railway infrastructure company and another 88,000 leva for the non-existend Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline. "This is yet another tranche for the maintenance of international companies set up to build several energy mastodons: the Belene N-plant, the Nabuko oil pipeline and the South Stream gas pipeline. All of them failed but as the project companies have not been legally dissolved, they continue to spend money for their upkeep, including hefty wages to CEOs," the story says.
Source: Sega (24.03.2016)

Bulgaria’s railway infrastructure company employees to be awarded energy efficiency certificates Management of Bulgaria’s National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) is expected to hold Monday a press conference on a project themed Norwegian Experience for Sustainable Energy Sector and Environment in Bulgaria – Expanding the Administrative Capacity of Bulgarian State and Local Authorities in the Field, the NRIC press centre announced. The event will take place at 10:00 a.m. at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) in the capital Sofia. The Norwegian Experience for Sustainable Energy Sector and Environment in Bulgaria – Expanding the Administrative Capacity of Bulgarian State and Local Authorities in the Field project was ranked first by the Ministry of Energy among 30 other project proposals in the field of energy. The experience of Bulgarian experts and their Norwegian colleagues from the GK Norge company, which is a leader in the realisation of ecology projects in Scandinavia, mainly contributed to this success. Professional certificates for the acquisition of knowledge and skills in the field of energy efficiency will be awarded to NRIC employees at the BAS head office on Monday.
Source: Agency Focus (12.04.2016)

Bulgaria's Trace Group signs 2.8 mln euro railway upgrade deal Bulgarian construction company Trace Group Hold has signed a deal for the upgrade of a total 7.9 km railway lines with a worth of BGN 5.5 million, VAT excluded. The project is financed by the state-owned National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC), Trace said in a bourse filing. The upgrade of the railway lines, located in the region of Pernik, western Bulgaria, is to be completed within five months. The shares of blue chip Trace traded at BGN 4.95 on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange as at 13:53 local time on Thursday, up 0.2% from Wednesday's close, while the blue chip SOFIX index was up 1.3% by the same time. Trace Group Hold's activities include rehabilitation, reconstruction and construction of roads, highways, airports, underground stations and underground railways, ground railroads and facilities, urban infrastructure and road marking.
Source: investor.bg (22.07.2016)

NRIC commissioned another contract for over BGN 28 million to Vodstroy 98 National Company Railway Infrastructure (NRIC) commissioned another contract to Vodstroy 98. The latest order is worth BGN 28.5 million with VAT and was assigned to the incorporation ETC Technology composed of construction companies Vodstroy 98, Hydrostroy, Balkantel and Bonety, says the Public Procurement Register. It's about "electrification of the 83rd railway Simeonovgrad - Nova Zagora." With this contract, the amount provided by the state company to ETC Technology from 2013 onwards exceeds BGN 100 million. The other two selected for such activities associations have little commissioned. Until three months ago Vodstroy 98 was linked to MP Delyan Peevski and in 3-4 years it was assigned contracts for over BGN 800 million. In June the company was sold to Hydrostroy with majority owner Veliko Zhelev. In addition to ETC Technology both companies partnered before the merger in the incorporation that built the North speed tangent.
Source: Capital (14.09.2016)

NRIC award a contract for BGN 63 million of Trace Group Hold The formed union between Trace Group Hold, Infrastructure Construction and RVP Ilientsi won a tender for BGN 63 million by the National Company Railway Infrastructure for the rehabilitation of the railway line, part of the line Plovdiv - Burgas. The rehabilitation of the stretch Skutare-Orizovo, which is 26 kilometers long, should be completed within three years. The project is funded by the first phase of the Operational Programme "Transport" in which allocations were mainly for the repair of the railway line between Plovdiv and Burgas.
Source: Capital (09.12.2016)

Bulgaria's Energoremont signs 2.6 mln euro deal to revamp railway section A consortium led by Bulgaria's Energoremont Holding signed a BGN 5 million contract with state-owned National Railway Infrastructure Company for the reconstruction of a railway section. The section between the villages of Straldja and Tserovski is part of the railway linking Bulgaria's second-biggest city of Plovdiv with the Black Sea port of Burgas. The consortium includes two other companies, Italy's Salcef and Sofia-based Transgeo. The project, financed under the EU's Operational Programme Transport 2014-2020, should be completed within two years. Energoremont Holding shares rose 10.63% to BGN 3.54 as of 11:47 CET on Monday on the Sofia bourse.
Source: Capital (31.01.2017)

Four Projects Worth EUR 207 Mln Submitted for Approval under Connecting Europe Facility Four project proposals have been submitted after the third notice of invitation to tender under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). Two projects were sent by the Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority, one was submitted by the Road Infrastructure Agency and one by the National Railway Infrastructure Company. Their total investment value is 207 million euro and the requested European funding amounts to 85 per cent, the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications said Wednesday. The National Railway Infrastructure Company has submitted a project for the development of Plovdiv railway juncture which includes rehabilitation and upgrading of railway infrastructure in the sections Plovdiv- Plovdiv yard - Kroumovo and Plovdiv yard - Skoutare. The project also provides for a road to be developed passing under Plovdiv Station, development of the tracks at the stations included in the project, removal of existing crossings and their replacement with overpasses. The total value of the project proposal is 115 million euro, with European funding amounting to 98 million euro. In the road sector, one project has been submitted for the development of a section of Kalotina - Sofia Ring Road motorway. The project is worth a total of 90 million euro and the requested European co-funding slightly exceeds 40 million euro. The project proposal includes the development of 15 km of the motorway from Kalotina border checkpoint to Dragoman. The existing route will be widened and corrected at places to allow a speed of 100 km/h. The project provides for two lanes on each side of the road and an emergency lane. Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority has submitted two projects related to streamlining air traffic services. Their total value is about 1.2 million euro and requested European co-funding is about 1.0 million euro. The first project is aimed to create a local information security operational centre to provide effective protection against cyber attacks. Its development will guarantee security of data and infrastructure of the air traffic authority, as well as 24/7 regime of provided services. The second project proposal is aimed to introduce air space for free flight over the countries participating in the Gate One regional initiative. This is the third notice for tenders in the transport sector of CEF that guarantee the country a budget under the Cohesion Package amounting to 406 million euro. Seven transport projects worth 294 million euro have been approved. The free resources at the disposal of Bulgaria is 111 million euro. The results of the evaluation of the projects will be announced in the middle of this year.
Source: mediapool.bg (09.02.2017)

Industrial zones in Bulgaria will be connected by railways The National Company "Railway Infrastructure" (NRIC) has planned in its five-year investment plan the construction of rail connections to industrial areas in the country. The project envisages nearly BGN 40 million for the construction of industrial tracks to production facilities, this was discussed between the Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications Hristo Alexiev and Economy Minister Teodor Sedlarski. Experts from the NRIC will make analyzes for the return on investment and how much cargo can be transported to the industrial zones. According to the investment plan the construction of new railway connections to production facilities will lead to economic benefits for the rail infrastructure and rail carriers and the businesses.
Source: Capital (16.03.2017)

The Bright Future of BDZ Would Cost BGN 1.3 Billion BDZ can become a modern and competitive enterprise, but at the cost of huge investments - between BGN 800 million and BGN 1.3 billion. This was announced by the director of Bulgarian State Railways Vladimir Vladimirov, who yesterday presented a project for the procurement of new modular trains. They will have a speed of 160 km/h, they will have WiFi, will offer comfortable first class and will save 15% of the current expenses of BDZ, or BGN 35 million annually", Vladimirov said. The trouble is that the state-owned holding is mired in debt and the treasury has to constantly help it financially. The next state support scheme provides for BDZ to receive hundreds of millions of concessions at Sofia Airport. The forecast for the necessary investments is part of a BDZ technological update report, developed by 3 universities - UNWE, the Technical Uni and Higher Transport School, together with experts from the Ministry of Transport, BDZ and NRIC. "This document has looked at all possible aspects of what the BDZ train fleet should look like in the next few years, what should be its common technical parameters, what kind of passenger traffic BDZ can win after improving its competitiveness on the market and what comfort it needs "On this basis, the collegues from" Passenger Transport "are ready to launch a public procurement for the supply of new modular trains," Vladimirov told Focus. The project for the technological renovation of the railway has two stages. During the first phase it is planned to buy 41 modular trains, which will cost at least BGN 380 mln. During the second stage, 44 more compositions have to be delivered. It is expected that the first new trains will be on the rails of Bulgaria by 2020. "It is necessary to take decisions at the government level in order to provide funds for the second stage," said BDZ chief. He noted that BDZ is confidently on the way to clearing debts, a very heavy burden on the railway, and more than BGN 600 million have been deducted to date to cover these debts and any additional costs associated with them. By the end of 2018 the debt crisis of the railroads will end, Vladimirov is convinced.
Source: Dnevnik (04.09.2017)

KCM railroad to go underground The railway line that serves KCM will be brought underground in the area of the crossroad of Okolovrastno Shose and the Plovdiv - Asenovgrad road. This option was discussed by the experts at a meeting, organized by the regional governor Zdravko Dimitrov. The solution is proposed by the specialist of the National Railway Infrastructure Company, and how it will be realized will become clear after designing. The reason for the relocation of the railway line is the construction of a circular junction. The new roadway closes near the railroad and large traffic jams will occur if the traffic is regulated by a barrier, explained the regional administration architect Valentin Marinov. There are two options: to get the railroad line up or down the ground, which will cost cheaper, and it will be safer. The new Plovdiv - Asenovgrad route will be asphalted until the end of November.
Source: Maritsa (09.11.2017)

Bulgaria opens tender for overhaul of railway signaling, telecommunication systems Bulgaria's National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) said it has opened 195.4 million levs ($117.8 million/99.9 million euro) tender for modernisation of the signaling and telecommunication systems along the railway section between the cities of Plovdiv and Bourgas. The tender includes the design and construction of signaling and telecommunication equipment at the train stations, built-in passenger information systems and control points along the 293 km-long railway section linking Bulgaria's second biggest city of Plovdiv with the Black Sea port of Burgas, according to a NRIC notice posted on the website of the Public Procurement Agency. The works on the project, which is part of an overhaul of Plovdiv-Burgas railway section should be completed in 48 months. The deadline for submitting bids in the tender is March 1, 2018.
Source: Capital (20.12.2017)

An Important Railway Line in Bulgaria will be Modernized with EU Funds ˆ 471.5 million from the Cohesion Fund are invested in the development of the railway line between the towns of Elin Pelin and Kostenets. This section is part of the high-speed railway line between the two largest Bulgarian cities Sofia and Plovdiv from the east / eastern Mediterranean corridor of the TEN-T Trans-European Transport Network. This corridor passes through eight EU countries, from Berlin to Athens, creating important rail links in the countries of Central and Southern Europe. This means a smoother journey and exchange for Bulgaria and its neighbors. Regional Policy Commissioner Corina Krets said: "Seamless rail links for passengers and freight will stimulate regional development in Bulgaria and contribute to building a competitive and low-carbon economy for the next generation, and I am pleased that the European Cohesion Fund is helping." Over ˆ 100 million from the Cohesion Fund are invested in the Sofia-Plovdiv line in the period 2007-2013 for the construction of the stretch between the towns of Septemvri and Plovdiv. The Kostenets-Septemvri section is currently being funded with EUR 151.5 million under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). After completing the construction works on the Sofia-Plovdiv line, passengers will be able to travel between the two cities in less than 80 minutes at speeds of up to 160 km / h.
Source: Dnevnik (02.02.2018)

Restaurantkeeper halted rail auction for BGN 1 billion A company without any activity, related to railway transport, stopped one of the largest railway auctions in Bulgaria for nearly BGN 1 billion. It is for the project to modernize the Elin Pelin - Kostenets railway line, financed by the EU. The complaint that filed the complaint in the CPC's registry office on January 30th is Euro Invest OOD, registered in 2009 with generl line of business: hotel, restaurant and others activities. Its headquarters are in Haskovo, and in September 2017 its owner is replaced. Currently it is Yanko Stefanov Asenov. As a result of the appeal, the NRIC adjourned the proceedings until the committee issues its ruling. Its decision may be appealed to the SAC, which will also take time. The financing of the project is for the modernization of the Elin Pelin - Kostenets railway line amounting to EUR 451 million for the modernization of over 51 km of railway lines and 5 stations.
Source: 24 chasa (05.02.2018)

NRCs invested BGN 16 million in 4 years for in automatic crossing devices The National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) has invested BGN 16 million in four years on automatic railroad crossing devices. The new devices are automated and, unlike the manual barriers (lowered and raised by a human), they are automatically triggered by the train. All new gears are equipped with an extra third white slowly flashing light, indicating that the device is not damaged and railroads can be safely crossed. Cameras are additionally mounted for control and prevention. Of all 757 rail crossings, 519 are equipped with automatic devices to ensure safe passage of the train through the crossing. Although Bulgarian rail infrastructure has one of the highest percentages of automated and technical devices to provide signposting, NRIC statistics indicate that only for the last 3 years 25 people were injured during incidents at crossings and 11 were killed.
Source: Other (14.06.2018)

A tender for BGN 1 billion for the Elin Pelin - Kostenets railway line attracted 19 offers Nineteen offers were submitted for the repair of the railway line between Elin Pelin and Kostenets. The indicative value of the project amounts to BGN 1.024 billion. One of the most expensive tenders has attracted Romanian, Polish, Greek, Italian and Turkish companies. Among them are the Italian Astaldi, the Greek Terna and Actor, the Polish Traction, who participate on their own. Bulgarian companies are applying through unions. Among them are Glavbolgarstroy, Kalistratov grup, Trace. Candidates for Lot 2 are also the PCT Group, for which the former Vodstroy 98 with its new name VDH also plays. It has participated in a consortium with Bitumina GmbH - Bulgaria, owned by a company registered in Austria, and others. Strabag is also participating in a consortium with GP Group. The section is part of the railway line Sofia - Plovdiv. The project is under the Operational Program "Transport" and is being run by the National Railway Infrastructure Company. The area is 51 km long, including 20 km of tunnels and 23 bridges and viaducts with a total length of 3 km, with five railway stations being planned on the road.
Source: Capital (07.08.2018)

Union Ivkoni and Group Plus will merge into a new company Another merger and acquisitions deal emerges in the Bulgarian economy and this time it will be on the passenger transport market. The newly-formed company Transspect AD will unite under its roof two of the big players in the sector through concentration by acquiring sole control over Union Ivkoni OOD and Group Plus OOD. This is clear from a notification to the watchdog Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC). The antimonopoly commission reports that it has started a file and reserves the right to make a final decision after an overall assessment of the notified transaction. So far, the financial parameters of the deal are not clear. It concerns the market for public bus passenger transport and the CPC has to assess how this concentration will affect the product-geographic market in the country. The Commission states that Transspect AD is a newly established company and has not yet carried on a commercial activity. For its part, Union Ivkoni is a transport and tourism company specializing in bus transport of passengers in the country and abroad as well as in the field of tourist services, while Group Plus is a transport company, whose main activity is focused on domestic and international passenger coach transport.
Source: investor.bg (07.08.2018)

Part of the money from the Sofia Airport concession will go to BDZ Part of the money from the Sofia Airport concession will go to BDZ and the railway infrastructure, the MPs decided. By law, the income from privatizations and concessions must go to the Silver Fund, but in this case an exception is made. To finance the state railways company with the money from the concession was talked about in the last year. The Executive Director Vladimir Vladimirov specified that the concession should increase the capital in the amount of the state aid granted. At the moment, however, the company is in collapse. The concession of Sofia Airport is a concession of a mixed nature, as the construction of a new airport terminal at the expense of the concessionaire is envisaged, in addition to the provision of services related to the operation of an airport. Construction must be completed by the tenth year of the term of the concession.
Source: Other (30.11.2018)

BDZ ends 2018 with operating profit of BGN 10 million BDZ ends 2018 with pre-tax profit in the amount of BGN 10 million, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Holding BDZ EAD announced at a press conference. The company is recording profits and they are growing. The financial position of the company is stable, assured the Executive Director of Holding BDZ. He pointed out that the main goals are improving the organization and the group’s results, based on a 6-year plan. The capital transfer plus the generated funds will be invested in development, repair and payment of debts. The group generates about BGN 350 million a year, half of which comes from state subsidy. The capital transfer is BGN 40 million and the operational liabilities to suppliers amount to about BGN 100 million. The main creditor is the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC), to which BDZ owes BGN 80 million and pays on a repayment schedule. The BDZ's budget for this year will be submitted for approval to the Transport Ministry by 15th February. For its development BDZ still relies on the concession of Sofia Airport, for which the deadline for submitting offers has been extended several times.
Source: investor.bg (16.01.2019)

Spanish-Polish consortium to build Sofia-Voluyak railway line for BGN 190 million Spanish-Polish consortium Komsa Traction was selected as contractor of the Sofia-Voluyak railroad with a cost of BGN 190 million excluding VAT, announced the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC). The project is funded under the new "Connecting Europe" mechanism and co-financing comes from the NRIC. Tenders were submitted by four candidates, two of which were removed. Thus the Greek Terna AD and the Komsa Traction company passed to the next stage – the opening of the price proposals. The public procurement is for engineering services - design and construction.
Source: mediapool.bg (01.02.2019)

BDZ records profit for the first time in many years For the first time in many years, BDZ will have an accounting profit, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Holding BDZ said. BDZ Passenger Services records stable revenues at the same level, with a slight increase. Passengers have also increased by about 500,000, which is a rise by about 2.5%. Operational profits of Passenger Services remain within BGN 20 million and the subsidy remains unchanged - BGN 175 million. The capital transfer, scheduled for repair is within BGN 39 million. More revenues compared to the past year are also planned in the BDZ Freight Services, by about 15%.
Source: Trud (21.03.2019)

Bulgarian-Spanish union will most likely take a railway order for BGN 260 million A joint venture between the Bulgarian company Infrastructural Construction AD and the Spanish Marco Obra Audience will probably win the contract for modernization of the railway section between Orizovo and Mihaylovo, which is part of the major rehabilitation of the Plovdiv-Burgas line. At an estimated value of BGN 248 million without VAT, the group Euro Rail Infrastructure has offered a bid of BGN 217.9 million. For 2017 Infrastructural Construction AD has revenues of BGN 35 million and 60 employees. Their partner, the Spanish Marco Obra Audience, works in Mexico, Africa and South America. This order is the largest that the National Railway Infrastructure Company announced in 2018. The construction will have to be completed for four years. The order is financed under the Operational Program "Transport and Transport Infrastructure" and is part of the large project "Rehabilitation of the Plovdiv - Bourgas Phase 2 railway line" for EUR 414 million.
Source: Capital (06.06.2019)

The maritime and railway transport in Burgas connected under a European project A European project for the expansion and development of port terminals in Burgas envisages full integration between sea and rail transport, as well as a significant increase in the capacity of the Bulgarian port. BMF Port Burgas - the concessionaire of the port terminals Burgas East - 2 and Burgas West successfully completed the activities of the European project: "East to West. Access to the OEM Corridor (Orient/Eastern Mediterranean Transport Corridor) through the Burgas Central Port. Studies for the completion of the port infrastructure and railway connections.” Feasibility studies were carried out within the project and a preliminary and technical project for the completion of the port infrastructure and railway connections have been prepared. The project has an indicative value of EUR 2,670,000, with 85% of this amount or EUR 2,269,500 being awarded under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), Transport sector, as a grant.
Source: Other (30.09.2019)

Bulgaria’s NRIC signs BGN 185 million contract for new signalling system on Plovdiv – Bourgas railway Bulgaria’s National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) signed on October 3 a contract worth close to BGN 185 million with the Plobur Consortium for the design and construction of signalling and telecommunications system on the railway line between the cities of Plovdiv and Bourgas. The consortium is made up of Bulgaria’s GP Group, Marmet Ltd, and Italian and Polish subsidiaries of Canada’s transportation industry giant Bombardier. The project is being co-funded with European Union funds, by the Cohesion Fund through the Operational Programme 2014-2020. It involves renovating signalling systems at 18 railway stations, the construction of a new ECTS (European Train Control System) and CCTV system, a new train protection system in the section between Manole and Bourgas – a length of 271km, monitoring of rolling stock parameters, telecommunication equipment in the Plovdiv-Bourgas section, which is 293 km long, passenger information devices and GSM-R train communication system, a statement by the NRIC said. The project also involves updates to signalling facilities at 15 stations, telecommunications facilities at 31 stations, as well as other items. The implementation period for the project is 48 months, NRIC said.
Source: Monitor (04.10.2019)

Bulgaria's NRIC signs 5.5 mln euro deal for Stara Zagora railway station upgrade Bulgaria's state-owned National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) said on Monday that it has signed a BGN 10.7 million contract with a tie-up of four local companies for the reconstruction of Stara Zagora railway station. The railway station will be upgraded by a tie-up of local Parsek Group, Prestige Business-93, Bigla - III and ATM, NRIC said in a notice. According to registry agency data, Parsek Group and Prestige Business-93 hold stakes of 35% each in the tie-up, Bigla - III owns 25%, while ATM has 5% interest. The contract was signed of October 25, according to the notice. Five bidders took part in the public procurement procedure for awarding the contract. The project benefits from EU funding under Operational Programme Transport and Transport Infrastructure 2014-2020.
Source: Capital (28.10.2019)

The repair of the Elin Pelin-Vakarel section will swallow half a billion levs The National Railway Infrastructure Company has signed a contract for the modernization of the Elin Pelin-Vakarel railway section. The segment is from LOT 1 from the project "Modernization of the Elin Pelin-Kostenets railway section". The section between Elin Pelin and Vakarel is the most difficult to perform on the whole route between Sofia and Plovdiv. Its length is approximately 20 km and it covers the largest railway tunnel in Bulgaria, 6.8 km long, which will be built in a tunnel way and will be fully compatible with the requirements for interoperability. The scope of the project includes a new contact network and new systems and facilities for external power supply and external lighting of the station areas. Two two-pipe tunnels with an approximate total length of 1.5 km, a road overpass and a road underpass will also be constructed. The value of the construction contract is BGN 498 800 012 excluding VAT. The implementation period is 72 months.
Source: Banker (28.11.2019)

The state will again build the intermodal terminal in Dragoman We are ambitious to open another intermodal terminal and today we discussed the possibility of launching a concession procedure for one in Dragoman. This was said by the Minister of Transport Rosen Zhelyazkov during the webinar held with members of the American Chamber of Commerce, on the topic "Transport and digitalization - a plan to overcome the crisis with COVID-19 in Bulgaria." He also promised that all public investment in the transport system and information technology and communications planned for this year would go according to plan. "The Bulgarian transport sector is fully prepared to take over the transport of passengers and goods, but the important question is whether the business will be able to restore its production volumes from 2019. We have opportunities for the development of alternative transport, such as intermodal. In one month, this type of transportation has almost doubled its capacity in Bulgaria, which was not expected as a trend," said Rosen Zhelyazkov.
Source: economic.bg (11.05.2020)

NRIC is selling a property in Elena at auction Real estate - private state property, located in Elena, has been put up for auction in secret bidding by the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC). The sale is scheduled for September 8 at the company's headquarters. The plot of land is located in the Ràta area and has an area of ??1982 sq.m. It was announced together with the two-storey massive building built in it with a built-up area of ??201 sq.m. The initial auction price is BGN 38,948 without VAT. The participation deposit is set at BGN 18,000, and the deadline for its submission by the candidates is August 31. The tender documentation for participation is purchased by 4.30 pm on August 26 for a non-refundable amount of BGN 1,000. Apart from Elena, NRIC has announced sales of properties that are no longer needed in other parts of the country - Svilengrad, Kardzhali, Galabovo, Stara Zagora, etc.
Source: Yantra - Veliko Tarnovo (14.08.2020)

BDZ Freight Services is in fact bankrupt BDZ Freight Services SPLTD is in fact bankrupt. This shows the unbiased analysis of the company's financial statements for the first half of 2020. And the only reason the documents for declaring it bankrupt have not been filed in court yet is the agreement for deferred payment for a little over 1/3 of the debts, signed with the "cousins" from the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC). For the first six months of the year the indebtedness of BDZ Freight Services has increased by BGN 11.751 million compared to the same period of 2019 - from BGN 105.726 million to BGN 117.477 million. During this time only its trade liabilities have increased. Of course, the largest debts of the 100% state-owned company to the 100% state-owned NRIC are unpaid infrastructure fees of BGN 13.356 million in the last year, of which BGN 8.154 million have been accumulated only in the first half of 2020, and over 2/3 of them - BGN 6.456 million, have hiked in April, May and June. Separately, BDZ Freight Services has other long-term liabilities of BGN 46.907 million to NRIC, for which an agreement for deferred payment was concluded last year.This agreement actually saves it from the obligation under the Commercial Law to submit documents to the court for declaring it bankrupt. So the total obligations only to the state infrastructure company are BGN 60.263 million.
Source: Banker (31.08.2020)

GBS, Hydrostroy and Strabag in a competition for the repair of a stadium in Plovdiv Five candidates have submitted bids in the tender of the municipality of Plovdiv for the repair of the Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv. The estimated value of the auction is BGN 44.3 million without VAT and it includes reconstruction, overhaul and renovation of the stands of the stadium. The first candidate is a union between Parsek Group and Patstroyengineering. The other union in the competition is between PIMC and Valmex. PIMC is also one of the leading Bulgarian carriers - after NRIC it is the second largest company in the transport industry with BGN 282 million in revenues for 2019. VDH, formerly known as Vodstroy 98, is also a candidate in the tender. Strabag has also submitted an offer. Currently, the company is part of the union, which is building a 14.5-kilometer section between the Kalotina and Dragoman border checkpoints for nearly BGN 165 million with VAT. GBS - Plovdiv, part of the Glavbolgarstroy group is also participating. In February 2020, the Council of Ministers allocated money to the Plovdiv municipality for the repairs. The renovation is scheduled for a period of two years after a contract is signed with a contractor. The stadium will have a capacity of 18,000 people according to the tender documentation.
Source: Capital (18.09.2020)

Bombardier Transportation establishes a subsidiary in Bulgaria The German supplier of railway equipment Bombardier Transportation has established its subsidiary in Bulgaria with 100% ownership in order to expand the presence of its company on the Bulgarian market. "With the significant modernization of railway transport in Bulgaria, this new office marks an important stage in Bombardier's commitment to this growing market," said Richard Hunter, president of Bombardier Transport's railway control division. "We have a stable relationship with the Bulgarian Railways. Through our ongoing signaling projects and a wide portfolio of products and services, we look forward to contributing to the development of rail transport in Bulgaria," Hunter added. Bombardier entered the Bulgarian market in 2017, when it installed signaling on the railway lines Skutare-Orizovo and Sofia-Elin Pelin. In 2019, Bombardier won a major contract for the design and installation of the INTERFLO 250 ERTMS signal and telecommunications system along 300 kilometers of the Plovdiv-Burgas railway line. In recent years, Bulgaria has been investing in railway infrastructure with the support of the EU under the Operational Program "Transport and Transport Infrastructure", as well as the Connecting Europe Facility. Bombardier Transportation is the German railway equipment division of Bombardier Inc. It is one of the largest companies in the world in the production and maintenance of railway vehicles and equipment
Source: money.bg (29.09.2020)

An investment with a class A certificate will open 200 jobs in Plovdiv Plovdiv is the center of the largest industrial zone in Bulgaria. For the first time within the city there is an investment with a class A certificate, which will create 200 new jobs in a high-tech plant for medical equipment, said Mayor Zdravko Dimitrov. In accordance with the Investment Promotion Act, BGN 1 million have been allocated for the improvement of the infrastructure and improvement of the area in which the new plant is located. Plovdiv is developing and growing, offering job and business opportunities. But at the same time there are problems with traffic, redevelopment, lack of parking spaces, air pollution, shortages of kindergartens and nurseries. An infrastructure program has been prepared for solving them, in which projects for over BGN 500 million are set, the press center of the municipality of Plovdiv announced. An important focus in it is the completion of the inner ring and the improvement of the connections between the neighborhoods in order to unload the traffic in the city.
Source: Banker (12.11.2020)

Terna and VDH will build the railway line from Voluyak to Dragoman for BGN 366.9 million. Greece's Terna will modernize the railway section from Petarch to Dragoman for BGN 275 million without VAT, and a merger between VDH (before Vodstroy 98) and Lantania will repair the part from Voluyak to Petarch for BGN 91.9 million without VAT. The decision of the National Railway Infrastructure Company for the selection of these contractors is from the last day of October. The two lots are part of the railway on which NRIC has been operating for over 10 years - Serbian border - Sofia - Plovdiv - Burgas with a branch to the Turkish border. The contract for the construction of the railway from Voluyak to Dragoman gathered 9 offers, and its indicative value was BGN 345.9 million without VAT.
Source: Capital (12.11.2020)

PIMK signed the contract for Botev's stadium in Plovdiv for BGN 43 million The Municipality of Plovdiv has officially signed the contract for repair of Hristo Botev Stadium with the contractor union between PIMK and Valmex. The value of the order is BGN 43.66 million, without VAT. The modernization of the stadium includes reconstruction, overhaul and renovation of the stands, and the facility will have a capacity for 18 thousand spectators. The public procurement was carried out extremely quickly. It was announced on July 30, 2020, and in just over four months the bids were collected, reviewed and evaluated, and there was an appeal, which was rejected. Officially, the term for execution of the order is 730 days, or exactly two years. The winning consortium remained only at the stage with the opening of the price offers, as the competitors, including Hydrostroy in partnership with the related VDH (formerly Vodstroy 98), GBS, and Strabag, as well as an amalgamation between Parsek Group and Patstroyengineering were removed. PIMK is one of the leading Bulgarian carriers - the second largest company in the transport industry after NRIC with revenues of BGN 282 million for 2019. PIMK was established in 2000 by Penko Nestorov and Ilian Filipov.
Source: Capital (14.12.2020)

NRIC provides over BGN 6.8 million for rail diagnostics More than BGN 6.8 million without VAT is provided by the National Railway Infrastructure Company for diagnostics of the rails with a measuring laboratory in the period until 2023. The measurement of the railways must be performed several times a year, and the aim is to control the geometrical parameters for their maintenance in the tolerances determined by the norm. In operating conditions, the control is performed by manual measurements. To determine the actual parameters of the geometry of the railway, it is necessary to measure in a loaded state, with a specialized track-measuring laboratory on its own, with the maximum speed specified by the manufacturer. According to the regulations, the railway is subject to periodic measurements in a loaded condition - at least every 6 months on the main and every 12 months on the secondary railways. The total length of the measured sections for the three-year term of the contract is 24,943,654 km. On August 8, 2018 a contract was concluded for a period of 4 years with subject: "Control of the geometric parameters of the railway and visual control of the technical condition of the elements of the superstructure in a loaded condition with a measuring laboratory". The contractor is the company Tinsa OOD, and the executed contract is for BGN 1,163,351 without VAT.
Source: actualno.com (08.04.2021)

The trustees of CCB have reimbursed 25% of the money Over BGN 1.25 billion are the funds distributed to creditors by the trustees of the bankrupt Corporate Commercial Bank as of the end of March 2021, according to the Bank Deposit Guarantee Fund (BDGF). The amount allocated for recovery is significantly higher than the forecasts for no more than BGN 800 million of the specialized international investigation company AlixPartners Services UK LLP. The data show that for more than 6 years the trustees have managed to collect about 25% of the assets of the looted bank. There is no data on how many of the BGN 1.25 billion in question are the result of the collection of loans provided by the Corporate Commercial Bank, the liquidation of the bank's assets or the declaration of invalidity of set-offs after its bankruptcy. Most of the money allocated for the return - BGN 928 million, actually goes to the BDGF, which is the largest creditor of CCB, after paying off protected deposits in 2015 for BGN 3.7 billion. So far, the bank has returned money to unprotected depositors (those with savings over BGN 196,000) and other creditors with four partial accounts. The list of major unprotected investors includes Sofia District Heating, Bulgargaz and Bulgartransgaz, BDB, BEH, NEK, Kozloduy NPP, Maritza Iztok Mini, NRIC, as well as government agencies such as the Privatization Agency and the Diplomatic Properties Agency. All of them have so far received no more than 20% of their former savings in the bank.
Source: Sega (15.04.2021)

The concession of Plovdiv Airport is terminated, because of no candidates The concession for Plovdiv Airport will be temporarily suspended. The current parameters and conditions for participation do not correspond to the economic situation caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. This was announced in Plovdiv by the caretaker Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Georgi Todorov. The Minister specified that all the documentation for the concession, as well as the draft concession contract should be examined in detail and the necessary adjustments should be made so that the deal is more attractive for businesses. "However, this process is long, so the start of the new procedure will not be within the official cabinet," added Minister Todorov. Another concession for Plovdiv Airport was announced in February 2020. Within a year, the procedure started four times, the last one was in February 2021, but no candidates appeared. It also became clear from the words of the caretaker minister that he is familiar with the project for the breakthrough under the station, but there the relations between the concessionaire, NRIC and the local administration are complicated. However, he is adamant that the breakthrough under the station will be realized. "There will be no loss of a single lev from European funding. I have requested constant information on the quality of work and compliance with deadlines. They will certainly cope by the end of the programming period," Todorov added, explaining that inspections are currently underway. in NRIC. In addition to NRIC, audits are carried out in other companies under the authority of the Ministry of Transport.
Source: Maritsa (11.06.2021)

The construction of the longest two-pipe railway tunnel in the Balkans has begun The construction of the longest two-pipe railway tunnel in the Balkans has begun, according to a statement from the transport ministry. It is part of the project for modernization of the railway section between the stations Elin Pelin and Kostenets, part of the route Sofia - Plovdiv. At an official ceremony was given the course of the most difficult lot of the project - between Elin Pelin and Vakarel. The section is 20 kilometers long, and the activities include the construction of a two-pipe tunnel with a length of 7 kilometers. During the construction of the facility, a tunnel method will be used, and along the entire section there will be two more two-pipe tunnels with a total length of 1.5 km, a road overpass and underpass, as well as eight bridges and overpasses. The modernization of the railway station in Elin Pelin will also be carried out. The total value of the contract for this lot from the railway section is almost BGN 500 million (excluding VAT). The money for the implementation of the project is from two operational programs - "Transport and Transport Infrastructure" and "Transport Connectivity". From the website of the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC), which is the contracting authority, it is evident that the contractor of the route is DZZD "Jen Dui Railway Elin Pelin".
Source: investor.bg (16.07.2021)

The new railway station in Belovo will be opened within a year Belovo railway station will meet all European requirements within a year. This became clear from the inspection of the site by the Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Nelly Andreeva and the Director General of the National Company "Railway Infrastructure" Krassimir Papukchiiski. "Currently, the old building has been completely removed and the construction of the new reception building is being prepared. The new railway station is expected to be built within 1 year, and people with reduced mobility will have access to it," Deputy Minister Andreeva was quoted as saying by the press center of the department. The activities are part of the overall modernization of the Kostenets-Septemvri railway line, which is being built with European funding. "The modernization of the railway line between Belovo and Septemvri is progressing at a good pace, where the line is being built on a new route, which will allow trains to run at a speed of 160 km / h," said NRIC Director General Krassimir Papukchiiski. "All drainage facilities in the section have been built, including the elements of the lower construction of the railway and the rail-traverse grill, as well as the pillars for the new catenary," he added. The project envisages the construction of complex engineering facilities (tunnels and viaducts), for which preparatory activities are currently being carried out. The contractor of the site stated that he is ready with equipment and labor to start work in the other section - Kostenets-Belovo, after receiving a building permit from the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works.
Source: investor.bg (16.08.2021)

Plovdiv invests in eco-transport and green areas The priority project for the Municipality of Plovdiv during this programming period will be the city railway. More than ever, Plovdiv needs it, because through this ecological transport we will connect all areas of the city with the nearby settlements and industrial zones. This was stated by Mayor Zdravko Dimitrov during the opening of the international scientific conference "Economic, regional and social challenges in the transition to a green economy". He explained that the project is joint with NRIC and will be funded by OP "Transport" and other programs of the European Union.
Source: National radio (01.10.2021)

13 plots purchased in the Industrial Park of Shumen 13 plots for new productions have been paid or are in the process of purchase in the Industrial Park of Shumen since the beginning of the year, despite the pandemic and the Covid-19 crisis. This was announced by the mayor Lyubomir Hristov during a briefing and specified that the deals for 5 industrial plots in subzone "A" have been finally completed, and their total area is 20,234 sq.m. At the moment, preliminary contracts have been signed for the sale of 8 more plots and so the occupancy rate will reach 90%. "We are pleased with this interest. Economic development continues to be among the leading priorities in the work of the municipal management," Hristov said. Construction of 6 new enterprises is underway. These include corrugated cardboard, aluminum products and special cables. At the same time, the infrastructure of other subzones of the Industrial Park is being worked on. Working projects have been prepared for bringing a water supply system from subzone "C" to subzone "D", which passes under the railway line Sofia-Varna. The projects have been agreed with NRIC, and construction of the pipeline will begin next year. The selection of a contractor for a new road organization in the area of ??the Shumen Industrial Park for BGN 1.2 million is forthcoming.
Source: Trud (10.11.2021)

NRIC cancels EUR 168.5 mln railway upgrades tender Bulgarian state-owned National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) terminated a BGN 329.6 million public procurement tender for the modernisation of the Pernik-Radomir railway line, the company said on Monday. NRIC found errors in the technical specifications which lead to a contradiction in the description of the scope of planned activities, the company said in response to a SeeNews email. The railway company declined to say when the tender is expected to be re-launched, but pointed out that the construction works are to be completed by the end of 2029. The cancelled tender was published on the public procurement agency's website on October 22. Bidders had until January 21 to submit their offers. The works were scheduled to continue 44 months. A tender for the same project was cancelled by the NRIC in March 2021 due to a technical error in the offer evaluation methodology.
Source: SeeNews (18.01.2022)

29 companies want more money for the construction of railways, Minister Sabev refuses so far By letters to the National Railway Infrastructure Company, 29 companies requested an update of the prices under their contracts for modernization and construction of railway projects. This is clear from correspondence between the Minister of Transport Nikolay Sabev and the General Director of the infrastructure company Zlatin Krumov. The reason is the drastic jump in the prices of construction materials. Companies are urging to terminate the contracts if construction prices are not updated. However, it turns out that Nikolay Sabev is not willing to allocate additional funds. He replied that any amendment or supplement to the contract should be made in compliance with applicable law. The Minister also pointed out that under some of the contracts there was a delay of the contractors, due to which it was untenable to request renegotiation due to subsequent actions, since the delay had been already present. A reference to the beneficiaries of the European Structural and Investment Funds shows that the National Railway Infrastructure Company has 15 contracts worth over BGN 2.249 billion, with BGN 465.39 million actually paid. Among the largest projects are the modernization of The railway line Elin Pelin - Kostenets, which is worth over BGN 1.3 billion, of which BGN 208.61 million have been paid. The rehabilitation of the line Plovdiv - Burgas is in the second phase for BGN 810 million, with BGN 203 million paid.
Source: 24 chasa (26.04.2022)

Intermodal terminal will be built in Ruse by the end of 2025 The intermodal terminal will be built in Ruse by the end of 2025. This was announced by the Deputy General Director of Strategy and Investments of the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) Maria Genova and the Head of the Project Preparation, Management and Performance Unit Complexes and Terminals to NRIC arch. Alexander Tudzharov. The terminal will be built in the area of ??the Industrial Park. The value of the project is BGN 52 million excluding VAT. The start of the construction of the facility is expected to be set up in the beginning of 2023. "The main benefits of the intermodal terminal are socio-economic for the business and raising the revenue of the local budget, new jobs will be created," said Tudzharov, quoted quoted from BTA. According to him, the carriage of goods will be safer when it moves from the road to the railway infrastructure. Severe road accidents will reduce, traffic will also be relieved. "We have a conviction that by the end of 2025 we will be done with the construction of the intermodal terminal and we will start a concessionaire procedure that will operate the terminal," Tudzharov explained. According to the analyzes, the terminal will be able to process about 60,000 containers a year at the beginning. It is also envisaged that the rehabilitation of the railway station "Freight Station" in Ruse, as well as the reconstruction of the central railway station.
Source: investor.bg (06.07.2022)

The management of BDZ Holding is preparing the documents for the transfer of its emblematic building to the assets of the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRI). For more than 10 years, "BDZ Holding" and its subsidiary "BDZ - Freight Transport" have owed NK?I about BGN 70 million for infrastructure fees. Together with the interest, this debt exceeded BGN 90 million, but about two years ago NK?I and BDZ concluded a long-term agreement for deferred payment. The headquarters of NK?I, located at 110 "Maria Luisa" Blvd. in the capital, is owned by NK?I and BDZ. According to real estate brokers, whatever the valuation of the property shows, the real price of the built-up square meter in the beautiful building at the intersection of "G. S. Rakovski" - "Ivan Vazov" street, should not cost less than 3000 euros. With 7,800 sq m of built-up area, 50% of which is owned by NK?I, the market valuation of the BDZ-half should be around EUR 11.7 million (3,900 sq m x EUR 3,000). Or to BGN 23.89 million. Therefore, even the transfer of the building at market prices would cover no more than a quarter of the outstanding infrastructure charges to NKRI. On June 2, 2018, a private bailiff officially announced the building for sale with an initial auction price of BGN 7.3 million. The plaintiff was a consortium of Western European banks that lent BDZ under the so-called Second Bond Loan. In March 2018, the company was ordered to pay 19.8 million euros to creditors, plus 1.9 million euros in legal costs. Then the building survived only for one reason: urgent intervention of the Cabinet "Borisov - 3" and another transfer of living budget money to another state company of apparatus breathing. Or rather - in a waking coma... Most recently, the idea of ??transferring all ownership of the BDZ headquarters to NK?I was discussed at the end of 2020 - the beginning of 2021, when the general director of NK?I was the current deputy .-Minister of Transport Eng. Krasimir Papukchiiski. The building itself, in which BDZ has been housed for 7 decades, was built in the early years of the 20th century as the headquarters of the former Bulgarian Agricultural Bank. In the period 1934-1944, it housed the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of Bulgaria, and the desks of the prime ministers of that time were located precisely in today's office of the executive director of BDZ Holding. In fact, the building was huge, U-shaped, with facades facing today's Ivan Vazov, G. S. Rakovski" and "Slavyanska". However, during the Anglo-American bombing at the end of World War II, a bomb destroyed the entire wing of Slavyanska Street. The buildings of today's Ministry of Economy and Theater 199 were later built on the "spot". Although the bomb damaged the roof structure so that today's structure has almost nothing in common with the original one, the BDZ headquarters has been declared a cultural monument.
Source: Banker (14.09.2022)

The first renovated locomotive for the narrow-gauge railway with a traffic permit The first completely renovated and modernized locomotive on the narrow-gauge railway has received a certificate of admissibility on the railway network in Bulgaria, issued by the regulator - Executive Agency "Railway Administration", and is now fully suitable for operation on the narrow-gauge route September - Dobrinishte . The diesel locomotive 77.002 has a completely replaced new environmentally friendly diesel engine, a newly built digitized control panel and an air conditioning system in the cabin. The modernized locomotive, in addition to being ecological, is also more economical. After carrying out tests and samples of the locomotive, it is expected to be put into motion very soon to serve the trains on the route between Septemvri and Dobrinishte. According to the implementation of the signed contract for the modernization of narrow-gauge locomotives, the modernization of another narrow-gauge locomotive is currently being carried out at the "Express Service" OOD plant.
Source: 24 chasa (30.09.2022)

Lower infrastructure charges for the rail network until the end of the year Until the end of December this year, the period in which lower fees for using the railway infrastructure can be applied is extended. The decision was taken at a government meeting. Thus, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1036 of the European Commission of 29 June 2022 amending Regulation (EU) 2020/1429 of the European Parliament applies. It extends the temporary measures for a resilient rail market in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the adopted Law on the State Budget of the Republic of Bulgaria for this year, funds have been allocated to the budget of the Ministry of Transport and Communications for the compensation of the National Company "Railway Infrastructure" in order to reduce infrastructure fees for access to the railway network, as well as for non-collection of the fee for requested and unused capacity.
Source: Banker (30.09.2022)

Freight rail traffic is taken out of cities The railway section Sofia - Voluyak - Hrabarsko - Batanovtsi, part of the railway line with the direction Vidin - Sofia - Radomir - Kulata is of global importance for the development of the Trans-European railway network, Freight Railway Corridor VII "Orient/Eastern Mediterranean". The concept of the State Enterprise "National Railway Infrastructure Company" for the modernization of the railway lines in the direction from Vidin (Romanian border) to Kulata (border with Greece) through the capital of Bulgaria is to ensure the safe passage of a large part of freight traffic outside the urbanized territories of the country. For this purpose, freight traffic will pass along the railway line Voluyak - Razmenna - Pernik Distribution/Batanovtsi. This will achieve a partial unloading of "Sofia Central Station" from freight trains. The project "Modernization of the railway line Sofia - Pernik - Radomir - part of the Trans-European transport network" was commissioned. For its implementation, a public contract for construction in the railway section Pernik - Radomir with a connection to the Batanovtsi station is to be announced. In order to increase the capacity of freight traffic on the railway lines within the scope of the Sofia railway junction, the Iliantsi and Voluyak stations will be designated as distribution points for freight traffic. And after the planned implementation of the connection with the Republic of North Macedonia, freight traffic will be directed in the direction of Pan-European Transport Corridor VIII. The corridor is intermodal and includes ports, roads, railways, airports, combined and intermodal transport infrastructures - support facilities needed to manage traffic along the route.
Source: Banker (17.10.2022)

Turkish companies will build the Elin Pelin-Vakarel railway section for about BGN 600 million including VAT. The contract with the "Jen-Dui railway Elin Pelin" association was signed with the National Railway Infrastructure Company. The facility is financed by the EU Cohesion Fund through the Operational Program "Transport and Transport Infrastructure" 2014 - 2020. The section is part of the modernization of the Sofia - Burgas railway, which began back in 2007. The railway section between Elin Pelin and Vakarel is the most - the heavy and difficult to perform of the entire route between Sofia and Plovdiv. Its length is nearly 20 km and its scope includes the longest railway tunnel in Bulgaria - 6.8 km. Such a facility has not been built in Bulgaria since the 1950s, when in the period 1949-1951 the Koznitsa tunnel was dug, connecting the Stara Planina and Sochtinska Sredna Gora. The term for the implementation of the object is 72 months. The contract with DZZD "Jen-Duy Railway Elin Pelin" is worth BGN 498,800,012 excluding VAT. The merger includes the companies "Cengiz Inshaat Sanayi Ve Tijaret Anonym Shirketi" AD and "Duigu Muhendislik Inshaat Tourism Dash Tijared Ve Sanayi Limited Shirketi"Ltd.
Source: Banker (24.10.2022)

"The National Railway Infrastructure Company reported a loss of BGN 5.7 million for the last ten months against a planned loss of BGN 17 million. Passenger traffic has grown by almost 39% compared to last year, with pre-COVID parameters already restored and an increase of 10 percent. BDZ Holding EAD reports for the same period a profit in the total amount of BGN 5,444 million, and the profit was generated by the won case against First Investment Bank, which is in the order of BGN 11 million. BDZ Holding has a wagon fleet of 2,696 wagons that are not in operation. Within this year and next, start procedures for the repair of over 450 freight wagons that have already been declared to be repaired and then used.
Source: Banker (21.11.2022)

The reconstruction of Stara Zagora railway station will be completed in April 2023 Associated problems are delaying the modernization project of the Stara Zagora railway station complex, said Hristo Alexiev, Acting Minister of Transport and Communications. The contract was signed by the general director of the National Railway Infrastructure Company, Eng. Krasimir Papukchiiski, in October 2019. Stara Zagora is another railway station that will be renovated under a project financed under the OP "Transport and Transport Infrastructure 2014-2020". After several postponements of the deadline, it is currently set at April 2023. Changes to the project have become necessary, as initially it did not include the repair of the square in front of the station. There was a new correction, then approval, and its reconstruction was also included.
Source: Banker (07.12.2022)

NRIC announced a project for an intermodal terminal in Ruse The National Railway Infrastructure Company has published preliminary information on two projects included in the Recovery and Sustainability Plan. It is about the construction of an intermodal terminal in Ruse, as well as the implementation of the safety system ERTMS, level 2, in the Ruse-Caspian railway section. The total estimated value of the two projects is over BGN 241 million without VAT.
Source: Duma (16.12.2022)

Christian Krastev headed the railway infrastructure company Until recently, the deputy mayor for transport of Sofia, Christian Krastev, is now the chairman of the management board of the National Railway Infrastructure Company. Upon his appointment to the municipality in December 2019, Krastev's task was to develop incoming transport, update the timetable of all public transport and prepare a program for the construction of stops and measures to limit traffic in Sofia. He became famous with the revelation of "Save Sofia" about the municipality's public contract for street lighting for BGN 73 million excluding VAT, in which contracts were concluded with two companies - in one case the price of one lamp was BGN 5755, and in the other - three times less. The contracts with the two companies were signed by Krastev.
Source: Dnevnik (20.12.2022)

A new line increases transportation in the area of the Sofia railway junction In 2022, after the restoration of the 31st railway line between the Svetovrachane and Kurilo stations, an increase in the capacity of passenger and freight transport in the area of the Sofia railway junction and a reduction in distances were ensured. This has also had an impact on freight rates, significantly relieving congested sections of the existing rail network and increasing the competitiveness of rail transport. In search of ways to increase the throughput capacity of the railway junction Sofia, it was decided to restore the connection between Kurilo and Svetovrachane stations, which connects the second main railway line Sofia - Gorna Oryahovitsa - Varna and the third main railway line Iliyanci - Karlovo - Zimnitsa - Sindel - Varna ferry.
Source: Banker (20.12.2022)

Construction of the railway section from Petarch to Dragoman hasstarted The construction of the railway section from Putterch to Dragoman has started. It is part of the railway highway from Sofia to Serbia and the European corridor "East-West". The railway section is part of the large-scale project for the modernization of the railway line Sofia - Dragoman - the border with Serbia, which is financed by the operational program "Transport" 2014 - 2020. The entire project is worth BGN 304 million and must be completed by the end of 2023 - the last financial year for the expiring program period.
Source: mediapool.bg (23.01.2023)

CPC: For 10 years NRIC has abused - it gave more favourable conditions to BDZ Cargo The National Railway Infrastructure Company abused its dominant position and gave more favourable offers to BDZ Cargo. This is the accusation made by the Commission for Protection of Competition. NKRC has restricted or distorted competition in the national rail freight market and affected the interests of consumers. This has happened by implementing a comprehensive differential treatment strategy which has placed BDZ Cargo in a privileged position compared to other rail freight carriers. This has been the practice since 2010. BDZ Cargo has been granted different conditions of access to and use of the railway infrastructure and service facilities, which in practice has enabled the company to save charges that other carriers pay. In addition, BDZ Cargo has also received different conditions for the distribution of electricity through the distribution networks of NKRC, as a different methodology for calculating traction electricity consumption has been applied.
Source: 24 chasa (26.01.2023)

The activities on the complete rehabilitation of the railway line from "BMF Port Burgas" to "Vladimir Pavlov" railway station have begun The National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRI) has started the activities for the complete rehabilitation of the route from the port of Burgas "BMF Port Burgas AD" to the railway station "Vladimir Pavlov". The activities in Burgas will be implemented within the framework of another project initiative - "From East to West - 2. Access to the OIS corridor from the central port of Burgas: Rehabilitation of the railway connections to the Trans-European transport network". Object "Rehabilitation of railway track from arrow No. 103 (Port of Burgas) to arrow No. 20 (Vladimir Pavlov station)" is part of the project "From East to West - 2. Access to OIS corridor from the central port of Burgas: Rehabilitation of railway connections to the Trans-European Transport Network", which is financed by the EU Cohesion Fund and OP "Transport and Transport Infrastructure" 2014-2020. The value of the construction contract is BGN 4.9 million without VAT, and its contractor is "VDH" JSC.
Source: BTA (03.02.2023)

The government has lifted the salary cap on the boards of 17 state-owned companies. Until now, the remuneration of executive directors in joint-stock companies was limited to a maximum of 18 minimum wages, and for board members of these enterprises - to 6 minimum wages. In the future, these limits are removed, and the respective principal ministries will decide what the bosses' remuneration will be. At the moment, there are 17 such enterprises - the totalizer, all forest enterprises, NK?I and "Port Infrastructure", RVD, "Radioactive waste", "Management and management of dams" and others. Even without the removal of the limits, the maximum remuneration in state-owned companies has risen sharply in addition to the increased minimum wage. With a limit of 18 MRZ for the salary of an executive director in a state AD, this is equivalent to a remuneration of BGN 14,040. Last year, the maximum was BGN 12,780. The amount of remuneration is updated every quarter depending on the company's results according to a formula, but is considered that there should also be a salary cap.
Source: Sega (08.02.2023)

The National Railway Infrastructure Company released the order for the Intermodal Terminal in Ruse for BGN 54 million The National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRI) announced the order for the construction of the intermodal terminal at the railway junction in Ruse. The financing of the project is according to the National Plan for Recovery and Sustainability, and the estimated value is BGN 54.1 million without VAT. The auction was announced on February 3, and until April 6 is the deadline for submitting offers. Currently, there is only one operating intermodal terminal in the country - near Plovdiv, whose operator is PIMK. After the construction is finished, a concessionaire of the terminal in Ruse will be chosen, and he will have to provide the necessary equipment - mobile equipment, cranes, computer and office equipment, etc. According to the plan, the design and construction of the terminal should take two years.
Source: Duma (09.02.2023)

Nearly BGN 250 million for the city railway of Plovdiv from European funds Nearly BGN 250 million have been provided by the Eurofunds for the implementation of the city railway project in Plovdiv. It must be completed by the end of 2030 at the latest. For this purpose, a working group must determine the railway stops on the existing railway in the city within a month. The procedure for the purchase of the trains is already underway. The conceptual project for the construction of the city railway of Plovdiv is ready. In it, the railway ring runs from the Central Railway Station through Koprivshtitsa Blvd. and Filipovo Station to Skutare Station. There, the circuit continues south to the Trakia railway station. It is planned that the city railway will have diversions to "Plovdiv" airport and that in Krumovo. The financing of the city railway is provided by the European funds. Over BGN 198 million have been pledged under the "Transport Connectivity" program 2021 - 2027. The funds are for the "Development of the Plovdiv Railway Junction, Phase 2" project, as is the official name of the city's urban railway. It will be implemented under priority 4 - "Intermodality of the urban environment".
Source: mediapool.bg (14.02.2023)

Plovdiv Municipality and NRIC sign for the Concrete bridge and the railway overpass on "Koprivshtitsa" Blvd. An additional agreement between the Municipality of Plovdiv and NRIC will be concluded for bilateral cooperation in connection with the implementation of the "Development of the Plovdiv Railway Junction" project. The document must be approved by the City Council. The agreement should settle the obligations of both parties on five sites implemented by NRIC and financed by European programs. The first is the modernization of the railway, contact network and signaling and telecommunications systems at Plovdiv station and construction of the tunnel under the Central station between "Vasil Aprilov" and "Macedonia" boulevards. The second object is the modernization of the railway Plovdiv - Krumovo, Plovdiv - Skutare, in the distribution stations, Krumovo, Skutare and the separated post "Trakia". The third is a communication-transport solution for a connection between "Hristo Botev" Blvd. and "Macedonia" at the site of the Concrete Bridge. The fourth object is the construction of a flyover on "Koprivshtitsa" Blvd. and a new railway bridge over Maritsa, and the fifth is related to the modernization of the railway section Filipovo - Skutare, including Filipovo station.plovdiv-press.bg
Source: Other (06.03.2023)

The city railway of Plovdiv and nearby settlements will have 14 stops The future city railway of Plovdiv will have fourteen stops. This was agreed upon by the members of the working group at a meeting that took place this week, announced the Asenovgrad municipality. Representatives of local authorities from the region and the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRI) participate in the working group. The large-scale urban railway project for Plovdiv and nearby settlements will be implemented in two stages. One is the construction of the inner ring in and around Plovdiv, and the other - the outer ring foresees the inclusion of the industrial zones near the city. The implementation of the project has been assigned to NK?I. Funding will come from various sources, mainly from the "Transport Connectivity" program 2021 - 2027, the "Connected Europe" mechanism, the Recovery and Sustainability Plan, public and private funds. Currently, BGN 250 million have been secured from the European funds, but preliminary estimates show that they will not be enough.
Source: mediapool.bg (10.03.2023)

NRIC wants to restore the railway line from Yambol to the Turkish border The National Railway Infrastructure Company is taking the first step to improve the border railway crossing between Bulgaria and Turkey. For this purpose, the benefits and costs of the restoration of the Yambol-Elhovo railway line, as well as its extension to Lesovo and the Turkish border, will be studied. A public procurement has already been launched for the preparation of a pre-investment study, which should analyze different options for the route. The idea is that the railway line serves not only cargo but also passenger traffic. After the pre-investment study, a conceptual and technical project will be prepared, and only then will an order for future construction be approached.
Source: economic.bg (21.03.2023)

More intermodal terminals to be built in Bulgaria The intermodal terminal near Plovdiv is the first one built with European funding under OP Transport 2007-2013. "At the beginning of 2018, a rapid increase in cargo traffic through it began," said Eng. Georgi Uzunov - project manager, station complexes and terminal. Thus, within a year, 25,000 trailers were transported through the intermodal terminal. The aim of the project is to improve intermodality by creating conditions for optimal interaction and integration of different modes of transport. With funds from various European financial instruments, such as the Transport Connectivity Programme 2021-2027 and the Recovery and Development Plan, the construction of at least several more terminals is already planned. The next terminal for which funding has been approved is the one in Ruse. "There is a strategic location - the Danube. It also covers the North-South corridor, which will be promising in view of the war in Ukraine," Eng. Uzunov. A novelty in this programming period under the Transport Connectivity Programme 2021-2027 is that a scheme to support intermodal operators will be announced in autumn this year. National Railway Infrastructure Company plans the next terminals to be in Sofia, Vidin, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Varna and Burgas. The benefits of intermodal transport are dozens. "The idea is ship - train - truck, but truck to be used for the short distances," said the executive director of a freight transport company, Eng. Lyubomir Garchev. dnes.bg
Source: Other (23.03.2023)

NRIC will not give a concession to the central station in Plovdiv and will manage the hotel there From July 2022, NRIC also carries out tourist activities, managing the three-star hotel located at the central railway station in Plovdiv. It was built by the former concessionaire Mirolyub Stolarski and his "Karat-S" as part of the now terminated concession for the railway terminal. Pursuant to the agreement between the state and the company "Railway Station - Plovdiv", through which Stolarski managed the railway station, the hotel became state-owned, and compensation in the amount of BGN 12.88 million was paid to the former concessionaire. It is for "the improvements made by him in the object of the concession", is stated in decision 464 of July 11, 2022 of the Council of Ministers, by which the concession was terminated by mutual agreement, effective from July 1 of the same year. The fate of the building, whose idea was to be a passenger hotel for users of the bus station and railway station, remained unclear. NK?I reveals that the hotel has not stopped working, but its employees have been rehired by the state enterprise. The station in Plovdiv will no longer be granted a concession. The enterprise provided information that it "is not included as a potential object for awarding a concession in the action plan for state concessions".
Source: Capital (21.04.2023)

The salaries of the heads of the state forestry companies reached nearly 15,000 BGN Forest officials at the top of the state forest enterprises overshadowed the best IT specialists in the country in terms of salaries. The salaries of forest chiefs already reach BGN 15,000 and are nearly 20 percent higher than the average salaries paid in 2022. The increases come after at the beginning of February this year, the official authority of Rumen Radev removed the salary limit on the boards of 17 state-owned enterprises, among which are "Bulgarian Sports Totalizer", National Company "Railway Infrastructure", "Port Infrastructure", Air Traffic Management (RVD), "Radioactive waste", "Management and management of dams" and the forest enterprises in question and others.
Source: mediapool.bg (09.05.2023)

The government disposed of properties The government provided free of charge the management of 17 properties - public state property - to the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRI). They are located on the territory of Hrabarsko village, Bozhurishte municipality, Sofia region. This will allow the implementation of the national object "Modernization of the railway line Sofia - Dragoman - Serbian border". With another decision, the government provided free of charge the management of 16 properties - public state property - to the National Railway Infrastructure Company. They are located on the territory of Belozem village, Rakovski municipality, Plovdiv region. The provision of the properties will enable the rehabilitation of the railway section Plovdiv - Burgas and the construction of new overpasses and underpasses.
Source: Black sea (12.05.2023)

OLAF: Bulgaria to return 38 million euros of European funding for a railway project The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) announced that it wants Bulgaria to return the 38 million euros granted to it for an approved railway project, for which the European funding is about 140 million euros. OLAF insists that the remaining EUR 92 million from the project should not be provided to the country. The reason is irregularities found during the procedure for awarding the public contract and during the implementation of the project. The project is for the modernization of the railway line between Kostenets and Septemvri, part of the railway line between Sofia and Plovdiv, which is partly financed by the European Executive Agency for Climate, Infrastructure and the Environment. OLAF calls on the Agency to follow up and implement its recommendations for the return of the funds and the suspension of the rest of them. Another rail project worth an additional ˆ111 million is also under investigation. The second project is for the modernization of the railway section between Orizovo and Mihailovo - part of the rehabilitation of the railway infrastructure between Plovdiv and Burgas. The financing of 111 million euros is from the Cohesion Fund and the "Transport" and "Transport Infrastructure" operational programs. The beneficiary of both projects is the National Railway Infrastructure Company, and the construction contracts were awarded to two private companies with international participation.
Source: 24 chasa (24.08.2023)

Maria Genova is the new general director of NRIC Maria Genova replaces Zlatin Krumov as general director of the National Railway Infrastructure Company. Until now, she held the position of deputy. General Director "Strategy and Administration" in the state company. Kamen Dikov became the Chairman of the Board and an independent member, and Vasko Balabanov was appointed as a member of the Board. The reasons for the change of management are the huge delays in all railway infrastructure projects. The state-owned company employs 10,733 people. For the past year, the company had revenues in the amount of BGN 576.4 million, with 80% of them coming from state financing and the sale of assets.
Source: Capital (21.09.2023)

A system of the latest generation will plan the management of trains in the country A system of the latest generation will plan the management of trains in the country, reports the Ministry of Transport. The train operation management system (TMS) was implemented by the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRI). The project for the design and implementation of a train operation management system at NK?I is financed by the Operational Program "Transport and Transport Infrastructure" 2014 - 2020. The value of the project is BGN 7,196,900. The executor of the activities is DZZD "RailTechnoIEMS". The merger includes "Innovative Maritime Solutions" (53.28%) and "TechnoLogica" (46.72%). They won the auction after remaining the only participant in it with a price of BGN 5,779,000 excluding VAT. The software is expected to be put into operation in December 2023 and will be of great benefit to both NRI employees and railway carriers, who will be able to easily plan their shipments and receive inquiries at any time. This will allow more efficient planning of railway infrastructure capacity and automated calculation of infrastructure charges, which is of great benefit to business.
Source: news.bg (02.10.2023)

Property expropriated for the Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo highway, the state gives land for the Plovdiv-Burgas railway line Properties and parts of properties - private property, necessary for the construction of the highway "Ruse - Veliko Tarnovo" to be expropriated, the government decided. The properties to be expropriated are in the villages of Obretenik, Borovo municipality; Beltsov, Tsenovo municipality; Sturmen, Veliko Tarnovo municipality. Byala; Polsko Kosovo; and Peychinovo village, Byala municipality, Ruse region. The Road Infrastructure Agency is responsible for the compensation of the owners. The decision may be appealed before the administrative court at the location of the properties within 14 days of its notification to the interested parties in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Code. The Cabinet granted the National Railway Infrastructure Company the management of 36 properties - public state property. They are located on the territory of the village of. Bezmer, s. Kabile, s. Zavoj, Tundja municipality, Yambol region. This will allow the implementation of the national project "Removal of level crossings and construction of overpasses/underpasses for the railway section Plovdiv - Burgas", of the project "Rehabilitation of the railway line Plovdiv - Burgas, Phase 2".
Source: 24 chasa (19.10.2023)

The modernization of the Elin Pelin - Kostenets railway line is entering a new phase The modernization of the Elin Pelin - Kostenets railway line, which is part of the Sofia - Plovdiv route, reached another important moment with the foundation stone laying ceremony, which took place on October 30, 2023 in Ihtiman. The project will become part of the longest network of tunnels on the Balkan Peninsula. In September, the work on digging another tunnel along the route was completed. It is a tunnel with a length of 579 meters, which is located between Ikhtiman and Kostenets. In March of this year, a tunnel facility with a length of 1 kilometer was completely excavated from end to end in the section between Elin Pelin and Vaccarel. In total, 13 tunnels should be built along the entire line, with 8 of them being actively worked on. The value of the entire project is BGN 1.3 billion, and the funds are provided by OP "Transport and Transport Infrastructure" 2014-2020. The route is divided into several sections - lot 1 includes the section between Elin ?elin and Ba?apel, where the construction of the tunnels. The contractor is the Turkish company DZZD "Jen-Dui Railway Elin Pelin". The value of the contract is BGN 498.8 million excluding VAT. Lot 2, the modernization of which will cost over BGN 113.6 million excluding VAT, is between Ba?apel and Ixtiman. The third and last lot includes the plot between Ixtiman and Koctenets. Its construction began in September last year. The contractor is the "Strabag GP Rail 2017" consortium, including the companies "Strabag AG - branch Bulgaria", Strabag Sp.z.o.o. - Bulgaria branch, Strabak Rail GmbH and GP Group AD. The value of the construction contract is over BGN 394.5 million without VAT.
Source: economic.bg (07.11.2023)

A procedure for expropriation of properties in connection with the construction of the railway line Sofia - Plovdiv, section Ihtiman has been launched The Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Andrey Tsekov announced that a procedure for expropriation of privately owned properties for state need for the construction of the "Sofia - Plovdiv railway line", Ihtiman section of the project: "Modernization of the Sofia - Plovdiv railway line on the Sofia - Elin Pelin and Elin Pelin - Septemvri sections", in the urban territory of Kostenets municipality, has started. The notice is published on the website of the Ministry. The object is part of the railway highway "Kalotina - West" (state border with Serbia) - Sofia - Plovdiv - Dimitrovgrad - Svilengrad (state borders with Greece and Turkey), which is a national object. The financing of the expropriation procedure is provided by the National Railway Infrastructure Company through a Grant Agreement under the Operational Programme on Transport and Transport Infrastructure 2014-2020.
Source: BTA (10.01.2024)

IMF: State-owned companies in Bulgaria are expensive, inefficient and carry risks for everyone Large companies with state participation in Bulgaria have low profitability and inefficient allocation of resources, and although they are not significant in terms of share, they play a decisive role in the production network, which can negatively affect the productivity and competitiveness of the entire economy. The level of state-guaranteed debt of state-owned enterprises is small - on average only 0.5% of GDP in 2010-21 (the average level in the EU is 9%, and in other countries of Central and Eastern Europe it is 3.5%). And the support with such guarantees due to the COVID-19 pandemic was many times lower - 0.3% of GDP in Bulgaria compared to almost 2% in the EU for 2019-2021. But there is a key point - there is no generalized information on guarantees in Bulgaria, issued by the state-owned enterprises themselves, since their activity does not require the approval or supervision of the Ministry of Finance. Thus, total liabilities averaged around 12% of GDP in 2013-2021, which could be a source of concern. This is stated in the Analysis of the International Monetary Fund "Fiscal risks of state-owned companies". The analysis is based on data from 15 companies in which the authorities at various levels have over 50% share: Energy sector (National Electric Company (NEK), Kozloduy NPP, Bulgargaz, TPP Maritsa Iztok 2, Electricity System Operator, Bulgarian energy holding (BEH), Mini Maritsa Iztok, "Bulgartransgaz"), Transport sector (National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRI), BDZ - Passenger Transport Ltd., Air Traffic Control (RVD), Transport Construction and Reconstruction (TSV), BDZ - Cargo Services Ltd., Port of Varna, Bulgarian Port Infrastructure). The total assets and liabilities of these 15 companies represent about 70% of the total for the entire segment with state participation 2015-2021, which covers about 700 companies. The general assessment for them is that the fiscal support is much higher than what they give as revenues to the budget. In 2017-19, they received subsidies, capital investments and capital transfers (direct support) and deferred tax and dividend exemptions (indirect support) of an average of 1.5% of GDP. To this they have responded with a contribution of 0.2%. Net, they absorbed 1.3% of GDP immediately before the pandemic and at the end of the last GERB government. In the first pandemic year (2020), this ratio became 2.5% against 0.1% and is an illustration of how an unexpected shock can lead to large fiscal costs for companies with state participation, the IMF says. These are companies in which 4.1% of all employed work. Their financial stability can affect the fiscal performance of the state, especially when they have incurred potentially significant costs, whether expressly guaranteed or without the authorities making a contractual commitment. In 2023-2024, the state doubled the dividend collected by these companies from 50% to 100% to support the budget, but the price for this is a risk to their investment, productivity and profitability. "Furthermore, the dividend policy lacks predictability and seems to be driven by the needs of the state budget. Such a policy reduces the incentives of companies to invest and thus has a significant adverse effect on economic activity," the authors of the report add. State-owned companies are much, much less profitable than those in the private sector. Return on assets (one of the key measures of profitability) was between minus 1% and 2% for the period 2015-2021, with an average of 10% in private. In 2022, this difference suddenly melted (9% for state-owned, 11% for private), but not because there was better management, but because of three specific companies - NEK, Kozloduy NPP and Maritsa Iztok 2 TPP, and their income from sharply increased energy prices due to Russian aggression against Ukraine. Return on equity (another measure of profitability, measuring a firm's ability to generate profits using its shareholders' capital) for SOEs is on average 20 percentage points lower than that of private firms. Due to the specifics of many state-owned enterprises, profitability is logically lower than that of private ones, but in countries with better management results, the difference between them is 4 percentage points or five times smaller than in Bulgaria, the IMF recalls .Everyone suffers from the bad management of business with state participation. Six state-owned enterprises have been facing short-term challenges in meeting their obligations for years. In the period 2015-2022, without sufficient liquid assets to cover the amounts due to creditors in the next 12 months were National Railway Infrastructure Company, TPP Maritsa Iztok 2, National Electric Company, BDZ - Passenger Transport, BDZ - Freight Transport and Transportation Construction and Reconstruction. Bulgargaz faced a liquidity crisis in mid-2022 due to low collection of receivables and arrears from Toplofikatsia Sofia. Accumulated arrears to suppliers were paid through a (bridging) loan and/or state aid. Another indicator of concern to IMF analysts is the high debt-to-asset ratio (ie, less financial flexibility) of several large state-owned enterprises. These are, for example, "Bulgartransgaz", National Railway Infrastructure, Bulgarian Energy Holding and Electric Power System Operator. It has also seen how debt-to-asset dynamics can change sharply - in the case of Bulgargaz, it jumps from around 45% in 2019 to over 90% in 2022. The combination of high debt and low profitability raises concerns for the ability to service the debt and therefore risks at the fiscal level, the IMF explains.
Source: Dnevnik (18.07.2024)