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)