site.btaContractors Chosen for Three Passenger Rail Lots, Outgoing Minister Karadjov Says

Liberalization in the passenger rail transport sector will certainly continue, outgoing Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadjov said in a television interview Monday.

Karadjov also said he has selected contractors for the three separate passenger rail transport lots, provisionally designated as the western, northern and southern operators. The northern and southern lots were awarded to Ivkoni Express, the only other company to submit bids, while BDZ Passenger Transport retained the western lot.

Karadjov said that BDZ will in effect retain about 75% of the total passenger rail transport market, while the remaining 25% will be served by the other operator. He emphasized that the objective of both the European Commission and himself, as minister, was to foster greater competition in the sector.

Karadjov also commented on upcoming sector reforms, focusing on the new Public Transportation Act. He said it is an entirely new law drafted by the ministry’s team, which provides for the establishment of a national transport scheme. The aim is to enable passengers to travel conveniently between different modes of transport, such as rail, bus, air and sea, with rail transport having priority.

Karadjov also outlined plans to introduce electronic tickets that would be issued and used entirely via mobile phones, eliminating the need for paper tickets. He described this as one of the most challenging and most important reforms in the sector.

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov announced the resignation of his Cabinet on December 11, 2025, amid mass anti-government protests initially triggered by the government’s budget plans but broadened into public discontent over corruption, injustice and failures across multiple sectors. Parliament formally accepted the resignation on December 12, 2025, with a 227–0 vote, which automatically put the Cabinet out of office and set in motion the constitutional procedure for forming a new government.

Karadjov has kept Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) high on the government’s agenda in 2025, ordering management changes in the BDZ group and approving short-term rail safety measures, including CCTV in locomotives, railcars and at stations.

Against what he has described as an unprecedented shortage of rolling stock, Karadjov has pointed to modernization steps such as the delivery of 25 new Skoda electric trains, due to start arriving in January 2026, and to reforms under the National Recovery and Sustainability Plan, including the procedure to allocate subsidized passenger rail services by lots, in which BDZ is competing with at least one private operator.

BDZ has remained politically contentious, with opposition figures calling for Karadjov’s resignation and alleging a deliberate push toward BDZ bankruptcy, while Karadjov has argued for a higher state subsidy so the company can cover its wage bill.