Bulgaria's Trakiya Highway will be launched at the beginning of July, the Chair of the Road Infrastructure Agency, engineer Lazar Lazarov, said.

"The period of the contract was extended to mid-July with the last inset, however, the reports up to now point at June 30 as the date for completion. If they are in reality ready by the end of this month, the agency will have five days to receive the site and I expect Trakia highway be launched on July 5," Lazarov said, as cited by BGNES.

He also commented on the problems of the construction company, which works on the rehabilitation of the road going through the Petrohan passage.

"The firm has financial problems, but they are not connected with the state payments. The State has paid all the certified expenses in the last year for construction- installment work. Until April 15 the construction was halted due to the winter season and after that it was resumed," Lazarov said, adding that he personally called the manager of the firm, based in the small town of Montana and responsible for the construction, to ascertain him that the project will be financed, despite the money shortage at the "Transit Roads 5" program.

"The firm has problems with the circulating capital, which I hope will be resolved  as soon as possible, so all these issues stop," Lazarov said, explaining that Roads Holding has assured that teams from the capital Sofia may go and help their colleagues so that work on the lot is resumed on Wednesday.

In connection with the proposal of WWF for an alternative to the tunnel under the peak of Shipka, Lazarov commented that the tunnel, demanded by ecologists, would raise the price of the project that have to be executed by the end of 2013 with BGN 450 M.

On occasion of the requested halt of the preliminary execution of the project by the Supreme Court of Administration until its final pronouncement on the assessment of the environmental impact of the project, Lazarov commented that "the postponement of the all construction work may put the whole project at risk."