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)