Bulgaria, Albania, N. Macedonia pledge to finish Corridor VIII by 2030
Bulgaria, Albania and North Macedonia signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) to build sustainable infrastructure along pan-European Corridor VIII, committing to completing the remaining parts of the transport route by 2030, Bulgaria's transport ministry said.
Bulgaria plans to launch a tender for the construction of the Pernik-Radomir railway section next week, the transport ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The section is part of a project for modernisation of transport infrastructure of the railway line from Sofia to Gyueshevo, close to the border with North Macedonia. Bulgaria also plans to build a railway link from Gyueshevo to the border with North Macedonia.
In the MoC, North Macedonia pledges to complete the railway line from Kumanovo to Kriva Palanka and to build a new railway connection from Kriva Palanka to the border with Bulgaria. The country will also prepare projects for modernisation and electrification of the Kumanovo-Skopje-Kichevo railway section and build a new railway line from Kichevo to the border with Albania.
Albania plans to rehabilitate the Tirana-Durres railway line and build a new railway section to Mother Teresa International Airport. It will also rehabilitate the railway line from Durres to Lin and build a railway link from Lin to the border with North Macedonia.
The Pan-European Transport Corridor VIII is an east-west route, connecting the Albanian Adriatic port of Durres to the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Varna via North Macedonia. Pan-European transport corridors are major international traffic arteries, which will help each rail and road, sometimes combined, for economic exchange of goods and recovery in Eastern Europe.
The MoC was signed by Bulgaria's minister of transport, information technology and communications Hristo Alexiev, Albania's minister of infrastructure and energy Belinda Balluku and North Macedonia's minister of transport and communications Blagoj Bochvarski.