Billions of leva have been wasted instead of being used for reform in BDZ. This was stated by Minister of Transport Georgi Peev in the studio of “The Day Begins“ on BNT. 17 of the contracts concluded over the years are already being checked by the European Public Prosecutor's Office, he added. At this stage, the topic of privatization of the railways has not been discussed.
Georgi Peev – Minister of Transport: "In order to have adequate railways, several conditions must be met. We must have good rolling stock – air-conditioned, with internet, we must have good railway infrastructure, good safety systems and last but not least – trained and competent personnel. We don't have any of these things. Because over the years, tens of millions have been invested with zero results. This is a fact. We have inspected the sector and have notified the relevant institutions. I can tell you that there has not been a single normally completed contract for the construction of a railway from 2015-2017 to the present.
BNT: What contracts are there?
There are hundreds of contracts signed, some of them without funding. I can tell you that over 50% of the railway network has a speed limit. Only 116 of the carriages we have are air-conditioned. Some of them work inefficiently even at 35 degrees. The total number of carriages is 266, and 285 are needed. Many people want to use sleeping carriages in the summer, and we don't have any. There are several that are from 1975-1980.
BNT: You said that many millions have been given. Where are these millions?
- Not millions – billions. Where are they? The institutions that are relevant to the topic should say so. We have provided the contracts. It is no coincidence that I have said several times that there are 17 contracts that are being investigated by the European Public Prosecutor's Office. The Ministry of Transport is cooperating extremely seriously with the institutions in order to establish the truth."
The Minister also commented on the deployment of American aircraft at the “Bezmer“ airbase.
“Let's start with the facts. First, there has been an agreement between Bulgaria and the United States of America since 2006 on cooperation in the field of defense. The “Bezmer“ airport is designated as a base for joint use. We must be honest with our citizens. We have an agreement with a partner country and based on this agreement there are the relevant procedures. They must be followed. The government decisively moved the aircraft from the heart of Sofia. In addition to all the administrative problems related to safety, flight disruptions, people's sense of anxiety cannot be easily ignored.“, said Georgi Peev.
Around 300 institutions, including municipalities, are responsible for road safety in the country. When asked about the effectiveness, the minister replied:
"Bulgaria has an extremely serious set of data, but the biggest problem is the coordination of this data between the individual institutions. The goal of this plan, which is coordinated by the Ministry of Transport, is to combine this data into one integrated package that can be used in real time. To create a risk profile of the individual carriers involved in traffic – be it cars or heavy goods traffic – and to use this information for prevention. Safety is not just punishment. Punishments are easily applicable, but our goal is to make prevention – in real time to see what is happening on the road and for individual institutions, which have different responsibilities, to be able to react in a timely manner."
The Minister emphasized that the entire society must work to improve road safety.
"I will not stop repeating - changing the barriers and changing the mentality are two different things. We must start from the family, from education and from training young drivers. The entire society must stand behind this cause."
When asked if heavy goods vehicles are the main culprit for serious accidents, Minister Peev replied:
"The problem is complex. Let's start with the condition of the roads and highways. I continue to argue that we do not have highways, but expressways. Good infrastructure is the starting point for road safety. We can easily limit the movement of heavy goods vehicles during peak periods, but then the question arises of where to put them. Are there parking lots with appropriate rest areas? This takes time and planning. We will include such parking lots in the plan because long-term planning is extremely important. Many institutions say that they have wanted to implement these measures for years, but the question is why they have not been implemented. First it must be planned, designed and then built."