The Bulgarian government is working actively to get Corridor 8 included in the European priority transport network. The Sofia-Skopje-Tirana-Durrës route should be recognized as part of the Western Balkans European Corridor, caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Hristo Aleksiev said at a meeting of EU transport ministers in Prague, as quoted by his Ministry on 21 October.
The meeting discussed the development of high-speed railways, international connectivity and the challenges confronting European railway transport.
Aleksiev noted that not enough funding has been secured yet for expanding the Trans-European Transport Network. "We expect that 835 km of railways, accounting for 47.7% of Bulgaria's principal railway network, will be upgraded by 2030," he said. The Deputy PM added that the principal network alone needs over BGN 15 billion in investments, but the sum exceeds the EU funding target for railway infrastructure until 2027. The national budget cannot provide so much money, he said.
On the sidelines of the Prague meeting, Aleksiev talked with Greece's Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis. They considered stepping up the project for the Thessaloniki-Kavala-Alexandroupolis-Burgas-Varna-Ruse railway corridor. Aleksiev and Karamanlis agreed that the bilateral working group for this strategic intermodal transport project will meet shortly.
The two were adamant that the corridor will improve the transport, economic and energy connectivity between Bulgaria and Greece and in the entire region. It will link the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea and the Danube River, providing connectivity to the liquefied natural gas terminal at the Greek port of Alexandroupolis, which is close to the important energy hub of Komotini and in which Bulgaria holds a 20% stake.
Early in the month, Bulgaria expressed its readiness to lobby the European Commission to step up the building of railway infrastructure in North Macedonia along Corridor 8. Back then, Deputy Transport and Communications Minister Krassimir Papukchiiski said Corridor 8 is of strategic importance for the Balkans and the EU. It will help boost the flow of goods from the Bulgarian Black Sea ports of Varna and Bourgas through North Macedonia to the Albanian Adriatic port of Durrës and on to Western Europe.