Minister Gvozdeikov will negotiate for the creation of a special law for the construction of strategic infrastructure sites

All started railway projects have similar problems and they are related to poor planning as well as extremely cumbersome administrative procedures before the start of construction. This was said by the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeikov during an inspection of railway sections under construction of the Elin Pelin - Kostenets project. The minister got to know all three lots of the project on site.

According to the minister, a complex solution should be sought for the problems with the railway projects, and not to act "piecemeal" for each individual section. "The more we delay the projects, due to administrative obstacles, the more they become more expensive and this puts a burden on the state budget in the long term," said Minister Gvozdeikov.

"Legislation is needed to eliminate long procedures for infrastructure objects of strategic importance. Therefore, I will initiate talks with relevant institutions on the creation of a special law for the construction of these objects", he was categorical.

Minister Gvozdeikov visited the newly constructed tunnel near Vakarel, with a length of almost 7 km. On the spot, the builders introduced the minister to the construction of the site. They explained that about 1/3 of the tunnel is completed, but there are serious challenges due to the geological features of the site. At the moment, the builders are looking for a complex technical solution to the situation, which will be presented to the minister and the management of the National Company "Railway Infrastructure" (NRIC) in a short period of time.

In the Vakarel-Ikhtiman section, the physical progress is 20% and the work on the reception building of the Ikhtiman railway station is to be restarted soon. The railway section between Ikhtiman and Kostenets already has construction permits for 99% of the route and is actively being worked on at several different sites.

The builders of all three sections raised the question of the requested indexation of the projects. It became clear that a meeting with the Ministry of Finance is about to be organized, where this issue will be discussed in detail.