Key Bulgarian Infrastructure Projects Delayed, New Minister Says

Major infrastructure projects in Bulgaria have been delayed by the previous Socialist-led government, Regional Development Minister Lilyana Pavlova has said.

In an interview with BNT TV channel, Pavlova said on Monday that some projects were at the same stage of development she had left them at the end of her previous term of office at the ministry.

Pavlova was appointed Minister of Regional Development in the minority centre-right coalition cabinet led by Boyko Borisov last week. She held the same post in Borisov's previous government that resigned in 2013 shortly before its four-year term of office expired. The resignation triggered early elections that brought to power the Socialist-led cabinet of Plamen Oresharski that in turn resigned earlier this year, opening the way for early elections that brought Borisov's GERB party back to power.

According to Pavlova, one of the reasons for delaying the start of the projects was the establishment of a separate Ministry of Investment Planning by Oresharski's government in 2013. Borisov's government is planning to close it down.

Renovation of Bulgarian homes under EU-funded programmes for boosting their energy efficiency hasn't made much progress either, according to Pavlova.

She also said that Struma motorway could have been completed last year, particularly its second lot. Currently, the most realistic date for completion of the motorway linking Sofia with the border with Greece is the end of November next year.

Pavlova pointed out that the ambition of the new government is to set in motion stalled infrastructure projects and secure funding for winter maintenance of roads depleted during the summer.

Torrential rains and heavy floods during the summer prompted the interim cabinet that took over from Oresharski's government and had been in office for three months until November 6 to make unplanned spending to repair damage to public infrastructure inflicted by the disasters.

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