Bulgaria Infrastructure Sector
As post-Covid growth fuels increasing demand for travel and growing interconnectivity needs, Bulgaria has announced significant planned improvements, additions and upgrades to its infrastructure networks. Within the European Union’s Cohesion Policy, the European Commission announced an 11 billion EUR ($11 billion) partnership agreement with Bulgaria for 2021-2027. Within this agreement, funds have been allocated to improve basic infrastructure networks throughout Bulgaria’s most vulnerable areas, the Northwest, North Central and Northeast regions, including the Shipka Tunnel, which will receive a 4.2 billion EUR ($4.2 billion) investment.
With the European Commission’s approval under the “Connecting Europe Facility,” a key EU funding instrument to promote growth, jobs and competitiveness through targeted infrastructure investment at a European level, Bulgaria is set to invest 321 million EUR ($320 million) in three major infrastructure projects.
The first project will take place throughout the span of a 29-month period during which Bulgarian company Trans Express will be granted 8.6 million EUR ($8.6 million) to build a multimodal logistics platform in a railway road terminal west of Sofia, which is expected to significantly improve transport flows to neighboring European countries and within Bulgaria.
Additionally, developments beyond the creation of new infrastructure are part of the funded projects. Existing ports and electric railway lines will receive much-needed enhancements and sustainability upgrades. The electric railway line connecting Sofia to Bulgaria’s northwesternmost city of Vidin will undergo additional infrastructure improvements, consisting of tunnels, overpasses and three new railway stations at the cost of 14.34 million EUR ($14.3 million) with an EU contribution of 85%.
Another aspect of the program, designed to improve low-carbon port infrastructure, includes construction of green crane equipment at the Port of Burgas under a 39.8 million EUR ($39.8 million) budget. These sustainability improvements allow the use of electric shunting locomotives, electric charging stations for ships, and enable cargo to be shipped via railway to surrounding countries, all while reducing the rate of harmful emissions from maritime transport.
Tenders and opportunities for U.S. companies will be announced on the procurement website at https://www2.aop.bg/en/home/ and at https://ted.europa.eu/TED/browse/browseByMap.do
For more information, please contact Emily Taneva at emily.taneva@trade.gov and Peter Delin at peter.delin@trade.gov