Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu told BTA that in the upcoming construction of the “Black Sea” between Varna and Burgas, both Turkish and Bulgarian companies and specialists will actively participate.
Minister Uraloğlu shared that during his meetings in Sofia with Prime Minister Rumen Radev and Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Peev, among other topics of bilateral interest, they discussed the future construction of the “Black Sea“ highway, which is expected to be built by Turkish investors.
The topic of the talks was the forms of cooperation and the ways in which this corridor can be better developed, the minister noted.
“Especially regarding the highway, which will continue to the north of Bulgaria - we examined the cooperation with Turkish contractors. We are talking about a highway over a hundred kilometers long, which will then connect to Romania. On this issue, our technical delegations had already carried out certain studies. We have also reviewed these things and, frankly, we plan to implement them in the upcoming period“ the minister announced.
In response to BTA's questions about the details of the roadmap for the upcoming large-scale construction, Uraloğlu said that there is an aspiration on the part of Turkish companies to implement the project.
“On the one hand, we have such a proposal from the Bulgarian side, and on the other hand — we certainly have the capacity to implement it. It is important that in the implementation of this work here it is valuable to have local partners and that Bulgarian citizens must participate in the project“, the minister told BTA.
Noting that Turkey attaches great importance to the project, Uraloğlu emphasized that “for Turkish investors, it is not just a question of coming, building the road and leaving“. According to the minister, the project is likely to be implemented in the form of a public-private partnership and will last for many years.
“We envisage this to be a project in which both Turkish and Bulgarian companies, workers and engineers will work“, the minister said in his response.
He drew attention to the fact that from Turkey's point of view, the border crossings, especially “Kapıkule – Kapitan Andreevo“ and “Hamzabeyli – Lesovo“, are already far too inadequate for the challenges of traffic.
“We are also working on the issue of new border crossings. I hope that we will open new points for both rail and road transport“, added Uraloğlu.
In his statement to BTA, the minister expressed satisfaction with the bilateral cooperation, as well as with his meetings with his Bulgarian counterpart, Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Peev, and Prime Minister Rumen Radev.