By Aleksia Petrova

Bulgaria will invest some 6.5 billion levs ($3.8 billion/3.3 billion euro) in the construction of railway infrastructure on its territory jointly with the European Union (EU) between 2021 and 2027, local media reported.

Some of the projects that will benefit from EU financing under the future operational programme Transport Connectivity 2021-2027 are the second stage of the modernisation of the Elin Pelin-Kostenets railway section, revamp of the railway line connecting Sofia to the town of Pernik, as well as the additional railway infrastructure construction on the Karnobat-Sindel line, news outlet Investor.bg quoted Neli Andreeva, director of strategic development and investment projects at state-owned National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC), as saying on Tuesday.

NRIC also envisages financing of the development of the railway junctions in Ruse, Varna and Gorna Oryahovitsa along with the construction of railway links in the coastal city of Burgas and Bulgaria's second-largest city Plovdiv, connecting them to their respective airports, Andreeva added.

It is still unclear what parts of the financing will be contributed by the state and by the EU, respectively, Andreeva noted.

According to Andreeva, the state-owned company plans to seek financing under EU's Connecting Europe Facility for more railway projects, including one for construction works on the railway section connecting the town of Dragoman, in Sofia region, to the border with Serbia.

Last week, Bulgaria's government said it will provide 168.1 million levs in co-financing for two key railway infrastructure projects, which benefit from EU financing under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for Transport -  the reconstruction of railway junctions near the cities of Sofia and Plovdiv.

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