Transport, infrastructure and communications

Transport, infrastructure and communications

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  Government’s main priorities are: Harmonisation of national legislation and transport regulations with those of the EU member states, Development of transport infrastructure and Implementation of structural reform and privatisation in the transport sector.
  
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  Major progress has been made in the Harmonisation process for all transport sectors. The report specifies the present status of the laws and regulations envisaged for implementation.
  
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  The social and economic difficulties suffered by Bulgaria, coupled with a lack of finance for road infrastructure has brought about a deterioration of the roads in general. Moreover road building in Bulgaria is difficult and costly as some 40% of the country’s territory is mountainous.
  
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  The programme ‘Transit Roads” rehabilitated 1400 km of the main road network up to 1999. Financing came from the EIB, EBRD and the Phare programme. Currently “Transit Roads III” is covering the rehabilitation of another 600km, to be completed in 2002.
  
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  According to the Inter-departmental programme on the development of transport infrastructure 1,200 million Euro will be needed for rehabilitation and construction of roads of national and international importance. The participation of Bulgaria in the TINA project is a very important component of the development of transport infrastructure.
  
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  River transport is still not very significant, with total inland water transport accounting for around 5% of Bulgarian vessel tonnage. There are plans for significant modernisation of ports over the next few years.
  
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  The two major sea ports of Bulgaria – Varna and Burgas handle more than 60% of the national foreign trade freight turnover. The drop in traffic and the obsolete equipment are major problems for the Varna Port development.
  

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  A renewed Sofia airport was opened in September 2000. There is a plan to develop and expand the airport with the capacity and modern facilities to deal with demand expected early next century. The US$ 200 million project will be financed by the EIB and the government.
  

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  According to new laws and directives it is envisaged that only railway infrastructure will remain under state ownership. The railway industry and other sections of the National Company "Bulgarian State Railways", together with the commercial activities of railway transport, are subject to privatisation.
  

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  Telecommunication: Bulgaria inherited relatively high line density from the pre-transition period. Recent investments increased further the fixed line telephone penetration. The quality of the network is less advanced. Although mobile telephone penetration has grown fast there is considerable room for growth.
  

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  The adoption of the new Telecommunications Law in 1998 introduced a liberalised regime for activities in the telecommunications sector. All services were liberalised except voice telephony and leased lines, which will be opened to competition on 1 January 2003. This is well in advance of the WTO commitment of 1 January 2005.
  

1. Donors and financing

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  There are many bilateral projects in all sectors. Particularly, Germany and Italy are very active in Bulgaria.
  
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  The EU is an important donor to Bulgaria. The major objectives of the support are the opening of the Bulgarian transport system for EU member states, Restructuring the transport sector in accordance with European standards and market economy principles, Development of infrastructure, technological modernisation and new investments.
  

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  EBRD is a major financing institution for Bulgaria. The EBRD will continue to promote privatisation, post-privatisation restructuring and sound corporate governance of selected companies in the enterprise sector, through both debt and equity investments. In the case of large enterprises, the EBRD will continue to work alongside foreign strategic partners as well as with domestic investors. The EBRD will proactively support the rapidly growing interest by private investors in the infrastructure sector, particularly in power generation, in telecommunications and in certain municipal services. The future water concession and the district heating projects with the Sofia Municipality should constitute landmark transactions. Besides, the EBRD will also continue to provide selective sovereign-based support for crucial sectors such as district heating, energy transmission and transport. Lastly, the EBRD will continue to provide guidance on the restructuring of the energy sector.
  

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  Since Bulgaria joined the World Bank in 1990, Bank assistance to the country has been aimed at fostering sustainable development and economic growth by investing in physical and social sector infrastructure, and by accelerating structural reforms and rapid development of the private sector.
  

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