Bulgaria to Start Struma Highway Tenders by December

Bulgaria will begin the tenders for two more lots of the southwestern highway Struma by December at the latest, according to Regional Development Minister Plevneliev.

Plevneliev said the government is ready to launch the tenders for the lots from the existing section near Sofia to the town of Dupnitsa, and from the Kulata border crossing to Sandanski.

One of the middle sections between Dupnitsa and Blagoevgrad, however, will be extremely hard to build because of the rough terrain, and the minister said Bulgaria was seeking aid in executing that from other EU states and EU institutions.

Some of the sections of the 156-km road are promised to be completed by the end of the Borisov Cabinet's term in 2013. A total of 19 km have been completed so far.

The Struma Highway will start at the Daskalovo road junction to the west of Sofia, where it will be connected with the short Lyulin Highway, and will run to the Kulata border crossing on the Bulgarian border with Greece.