site.btaDeputy PM Karadjov, Turkish Transport Minister Uraloglu Discuss Increasing Capacity of Rail and Road Links Between Bulgaria and Turkiye

Increasing the capacity of rail and road links between Bulgaria and Turkiye to make it easier and faster for people to travel, but also to ease heavy goods traffic coming from Istanbul, discussed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadjov and Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu during the Global Forum on Transport Connectivity in Istanbul, the press centre of the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport said on Saturday.

The two ministers met for the second time in ten days, after talks in Sofia on June 18. 

In Istanbul, Karadjov and Uraloglu discussed accelerating the actions of both countries on projects related to rail and road connections. Goods traveling north will be able to enter Bulgaria via a high-speed road near Malko Tarnovo, and those traveling by rail will be able to enter near Lesovo. Bulgaria plans to grant a concession for the construction of the Black Sea motorway together with two extensions - a four-lane road north of Varna to the border with Romania and the same gauge south of Burgas to Malko Tarnovo. The National Railway Infrastructure Company will build a new railway line from Yambol to Lesovo, and the Turkish railway infrastructure company will build the connection from the border to Edirne, according to the Ministry of Transport.

Deputy Prime Minister Karadjov was adamant that construction of the railway and road projects must begin quickly. He presented the projects for the construction of the Yambol-Elhovo-Lesovo-Turkish border-Edirne railway line and the Black Sea motorway.

“Neighbors must support each other. When you have a problem, the first door you knock on is your neighbor's door. In the coming years, we will increasingly use the route from south to north through Bulgaria,” said Minister Uraloglu.