An over optimistic scenario for the completion of the Struma highway described the Minister of Regional Development Nikolay Nankov in the parliament, reports mediapool. 

Our ambition is to finish the Struma highway in 2023, said Nankov. "We returned the confidence of the European Commission and Bulgaria received BGN 628 million for the construction of 40 km of the highway", he added on the decision of Brussels, which approved the application form for the two construction sections between Blagoevgrad and Krupnik and Kresna and Sandanski.

"This will greatly ease the whole process of the gorge's implementation," said Nankov. "We could say that the Struma highway is already an irreversible process, which we hope will be completed within the set deadlines." He stressed that the highway would be built despite the great skepticism of the ecological and other organizations who have mistrust the project.