Turkey Quits Key Bulgarian Motorway Project

Turkey has decided to exit the project for the construction of a major highway running from Romania to Turkey and Greece via Bulgaria (aka the Ruse-Svilengrad Road).

Bulgaria and Qatar are to continue negotiating for the establishment of a project company for the construction of the road, Bulgarian Regional Development Minster Lilyana Pavlova has told reporters.

Pavlova has clarified that Turkey's decision to quit the project is yet to be made official.

Turkey and Qatar committed themselves to constructing the projected Ruse-Svilengrad motorway at the end of May.

In early May, Lilyana Pavlova announced that Bulgaria would seek public-private partnership for the construction of the Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo-Svilengrad-Istanbul toll road.

The Ruse-Svilengrad road is expected to allow a faster connection of the Bosphorus Strait with the Danube Bridge through Pan-European Transport Corridor No. 9.

The two countries left in the project, Bulgaria and Qatar, are currently preparing a memorandum on its fulfillment.