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© Anelia Nikolova
The construction of the railway line from North Macedonia to Bulgaria will be a “key project” for next year.
This was announced by the country’s Transport Minister Blagoy Bochvarski at a press conference in the capital.
Bochvarski said that the railway would be the “key project” as part of the Transportation Corridor No. 1 (which, however, should include a road link from the Adriatic to the Black Sea via North Macedonia).
The budget for next year foresees 1,800 million dinars, about 29 million euros.
The decision is important after representatives of the Bulgarian side have repeatedly criticized North Macedonia for not making the necessary efforts to develop its transport connections with Bulgaria, although the commitment to cooperate on infrastructure is part of the Neighborhood Agreement.
Two months ago, the co-chair of the Bulgarian-Macedonian Historical Commission, Professor Angel Dimitrov, also said that the only step in the decades-old railway project was during his tenure as ambassador to Skopje (1994-2001).
Last year, Transport Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said that by 2025 Sofia would be reached by train every hour from Sofia.
