The railway to Bulgaria stuck in expropriation

Construction of the railway section from Kumanovo to Beljakovce has been delayed. The deadline for construction of the first phase of the eastern part of Corridor 8 will be prolonged to 18 months, although it is already late for the same amount of time. The section, which is 31 miles long, was due to begin construction in 2014, but since then it has been hindered by archaeological sites, fields with buried ammunition from both world wars and poor expropriation.

The first two issues have been solved, but the public company “Macedonian Railways – Infrastructure” is in court with the damaged property owners, who did not accept to be compensated with only one euro per square meter. Pending the verdicts, Infrastructure Director Irfan Asani says the company is attempting to provide money for the payment of properties because the budget does not provide funds for this purpose.

” We had to agree on a new term with the contractor as the deadline for completing the work, and that’s the end of 2019. The company can not work unless we provide a clean ground. Until then, we are working to provide money for the payment of expropriations during this year if there is a budget rebalance. If not, then we will consider this next year,” says Asani.

Apart from the first section, there is delay in the works on the part from Kumanovo to Kriva Palanka, for which a tender for the contractor was announced last week for the second time. The first one, says Asani, failed unsuccessfully because no companies that would have passed the prequalification were registered. The new tender ends in September, and if everything goes smoothly, the contractor will be known by spring. Therefore, the start of the works in this section will be delayed, which, according to Asani, may be for at least a year.

“This section is 34 kilometers long and financed with a 145 million euro EIB loan, which in addition to the construction works will cover both signaling and surveillance. There will be two major stations and three stops, and the projected speed is 100 kilometers per hour. Bridges will be also built, and those who are partially built will be reconstructed and rehabilitated. There are 15 tunnels, of which the longest is 600 meters,” Asani said.

He expects to provide money for the third section from Kriva Palanka to the border with Bulgaria, which is 24 kilometers long and will cost between 350 and 400 million euros.

Despite prolonging the deadlines, Asani remains optimistic that the line to Bulgaria will be ready by 2021. Then digging of the 1,600 meters long tunnel on the border between the two countries should start, and the complete railway link between Macedonia and Bulgaria will be done in 2023. For the full connection of Corridor 8, MR Infrastructure should provide money for 63 km from the line from Kicevo to Lin, which according to the prepared project will cost between 450 and 500 million euros.

Sanja Naumovska