Funds paid under OP Transport have exceeded 1.100 billion BGN, Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications Ivailo Moskovski said during a forum presenting the programme before students and the academic community.

"Currently, contracted funds exceed 3.6 billion BGN, which means that almost 1/3 of the money under the contracts have reached the beneficiaries," Minister Moskovski said. The implemented projects will help the railway transport to emerge from the heavy crisis and will be a precondition to attract investments through the better infrastructure. "This means more jobs for experts like you," the Minister said.

A high number of graduate students have already been recruited by Metropoliten, while demand for engineers on the part of both contractor-companies and beneficiaries under OP Transport has been rising, the Minister said. "The Ministry of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications and its structures will continue their policy of attracting young experts," Moskovski underscored. "I would like to share my personal impression that in the recent years dozens of young people came to work for us as interns, after which we offered them employment contracts due to their merits," he added.

Minister Moskovski voiced hope that such initiatives for attracting young experts will also be proposed by the private business and wished the participants in the forum to make a successful career in Bulgaria in the near future. 

During the event the Ministry experts presented the Operational Programme. The Deputy Head of the Managing Authority of OP Transport, Galina Vassileva, focused on the ongoing projects and the priorities for the next programming period. Nikolai Dechev, Head of Sector at the Ministry of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications, explained before the students the whole cycle of preparation and implementation of a big infrastructure project. Metropoliten EAD CEO Stoyan Bratoev presented the work on the construction of the Sofia Underground and the plans for development after 2014.

Participating in the forum were the rectors of the Todor Kableshkov Higher School of Transport, the University of Architecture, Construction and Geodesy and the St. Ivan Rilski University of Mining and Geology, as well as representatives of the University of National and World Economy .