Discussions are now underway on a new highway to connect Turkey with Romania.
A major stretch of this new highway will run through Bulgaria, which will provide a much-needed link in the country as it has insufficient express road infrastructure at present. The Bulgarian section of the highway would run from Ruse to Svilengrad. The political leaders of Bulgaria and Turkey, as well as Qatar, have been in discussions over the proposed project. A jointly run company will be established by the Bulgarian, Turkish and Qatari authorities to handle the project. The highway will be tolled and will probably be constructed under a PPP, with a long term concession package being put out to tender when the project moves beyond the present early discussion stage.And key rural road links in Romania are to benefit from repairs to address flooding damage. Heavy flooding in 2010 caused extensive damage to many of Romania’s rural roads. The EU is providing €155 million to tackle the repairs, which will be managed by the Payments Agency for Rural Development and Fishing (APDRP). The agency will offer non-refundable grants for 144 projects intended to repair and upgrade roads and bridges infrastructure.
