The development of transport infrastructure by 2030 was discussed today upon the presentation of the draft of the General Plan on Transport. At the opening of the public discussion Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications and Authorizing Officer of the Managing Authority of OP Transport Ivailo Moskovski said that the plan should serve as a basis for the drafting of all future transport infrastructure projects that would be financed under European programmes, the national budget or public-private partnerships.

A total of 134 potential projects were considered in the course of the drafting of the General Plan as 56 of them have been included in its scope. The projects cover all types of strategic transport:

• Road transport - 17;
• Railway transport - 14;
• Ports and waterways - 15;
• Air transport - 5;
• Intermodal facilities - 5.

Several infrastructure projects falling within the scope of the Trans-European Transport Network are outlined as having priority importance for Bulgaria: from the Bulgarian-Serbian border to Turkey; from Macedonia to the Black Sea, Romania (Vidin) - Greece (Koulata), Romania (Rousse) - Greece (Makaza); Sofia - Varna; waterways along the Danube and the Black Sea, Sofia's ring road.

The company having drafted the plan recommends investing six milliard EUR in new road and railway infrastructure or upgrading the existing one. The reduction of the time for traveling by car or by train is expected to generate savings of 7.4 milliard EUR.

The General Plan has been drafted by AECOM - Bulgaria. The agreement is financed under the European Regional Development Fund through OP Transport. The drafting of the plan was assigned by the Transport Ministry in 2008.

Participating in the seminar were representatives of the European Commission, the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, the Sofia Municipality, the beneficiaries under OP Transport and non-governmental organizations.