The progress in regards to OP Transport in 2009 was presented yesterday, 19 December, at an information seminar organized by the Ministry of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications.

The forum was unveiled by Deputy Minister Kamen Kichev, who said that 36 application forms under OP Transport have been approved so far. The total value of the proposed projects is about half milliard BGN (460,320,555.40 BGN). These include the project on the extension of the Sofia underground, as well as the project on electrification and reconstruction of the railway line from Svilengrard to the border with Turkey.

"Regardless of the big delay, which we established, in about four months we managed to prepare and launch tender procedures for the rehabilitation of the Plovdiv-Bourgas railway line, the design and construction of Lot 2 of the Trakiya Motorway, as well as the building of an information system at the Danube River," Kamen Kichev also said.

"We are aware that the transparency in organizing public procurement is of key importance for boosting public confidence and for relations with our European partners. For this reason, the Ministry is paying enormous efforts to make them as transparent as possible. A right step to this effect was the Memorandum of Cooperation signed a few days ago with the civic organization, United Associations for Civil Control. Our task is to justify the efficient disbursement of public funds ensured both by the Bulgarian and the European tax-payer," Deputy Minister Kichev said.

Every project implemented within the operational programme was presented in detail within the forum. The lecturers were representatives of the Railway Infrastructure National Company, the Road Infrastructure Agency, Metropoliten EAD and the Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company.

Participating in the discussions were Vassilka Portokalska, Head of the Pay Department, Coordination of Programmes and Projects Directorate with the Ministry of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications, Metropoliten EAD CEO, eng. Stoyan Bratoev, Georgi Genchev, Deputy Director General of the Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company, eng. Vassilka Kostadinova, Director of the Directorate for Project Implementation under OP Transport and the Cohesion Fund with the Road Infrastructure Agency and Veneta Peeva, Head of the Integration Policy Department with the Railway Infrastructure National Company.