Bulgaria's Trakia Hwy to be Ready in June - Outgoing Minister

Outgoing Bulgarian Regional Development Minister Lilyana Pavlova has vowed that the Trakia Highway will be completed by the beginning of the summer season.

Speaking Thursday, Pavlova explained that a number of important infrastructure projects were to be completed by June 2013, most notably the Trakia Highway.

"According to the schedule presented to us by the contractor, the remaining 35 kilometers are to be completed by the beginning of the summer season, which means that we shall have a completed highway," Pavlova stated, as cited by the Focus news agency.

She suggested that the launch of the Trakia highway would substantially alleviate traffic of tourists travelling to and from the southern Black Sea coast.

Pavlova suggested that the connection of the Sofia ring road with the Hemus Highway could be completed in early June.

"The project is scheduled for completion in November 2013, but according to reports of the contractor, it may be ready as early as the beginning of June," Pavlova said, adding that the finalization of the project would result in a reduction in traffic congestion and traffic accidents because the vehicles traveling in the direction of Sofia would bypass the villages of Gorni Bogrov and Dolni Bogrov.