Macedonia received €46.4 mln from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The funds will be used to build a railway section between Kumanovo and Belyakovtse which should link Macedonia and Bulgaria, the Macedonian Information Agency (MIA) informed.
The loan contract was signed on Tuesday by Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Zoran Stavrevski and by Sue Barrett, Director for Transport of the EBRD. The loan has a repayment period of 15 years and a grace period of four years at an interest rate of 1.7%.
The project includes the reconstruction of the infrastructure, which has already been built, and the completion of the section from Belyakovtse to Kriva Palanka along the so-called Trans-European Corridor VIII. The construction of the section will start in the first quarter of 2013 and will be completed in 2017.
“The section linking Macedonia and Bulgaria will finally be built and the benefits will boost Macedonian competitiveness, reduce the cost of transport and be an alternative transport for the economy,” Stavrevski said.
A bid to select the company, which will build the Kumanovo-Belyakovtse section, is expected to be launched in mid-September.
Text: klassa.bg
(24.08.2012)