Skopje, 30 December 2024 (MIA) - The Bulgarian Government has approved a draft agreement with the Republic of North Macedonia for the construction and operation of the Deve Bair cross-border railway tunnel. 

The agreement aims to establish clear commitments and timelines for building the railway link between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, BTA reports. 

"Bulgaria’s Transport and Communications Ministry, as a party to the agreement, proposes that both sides take concrete steps toward the realization of the railway tunnel, which will serve as a critical link between the neighbouring states. The construction of the strategic Transport Corridor VIII is seen as a key prerequisite for facilitating trade and industrial exchange not only bilaterally between Bulgaria and North Macedonia but also for other countries in the region," the Bulgarian Government said in a press release.

The agreement includes provisions for establishing a Joint Committee to coordinate all activities related to the construction and operation of the Deve Bair tunnel. The Transport Ministry will soon initiate discussions with North Macedonia on the agreement's details.

In December, reads the press release, the Ministry of Transport and Communications requested clear commitments and deadlines for the construction of the railway connection between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia to be made in an intergovernmental agreement.

So far, the Macedonian and Bulgarian sides held two meetings over the third section of the railway to Bulgaria, one in Brussels on October 16, when they agreed to hold a regular high-level dialogue and establish a joint working group for Corridor VIII, and one in Sofia on October 31, after which the Macedonian side announced that its argumentation has been accepted, including to have a joint project so as not to build a tunnel that leads nowhere, as well as Bulgaria to complete its section of the railway and revise the price of the project itself.

In a call for the planned third meeting in Skopje, Nikoloski said that the Bulgarian side should muster the courage to close this issue. "Our arguments are clear - the price must be revised, because it is impossible for a railway construction along with electrification to cost EUR 560 million. There must be a joint design of the potential tunnel that should connect the two countries, and they should complete their part of the work," Nikolosk told the Parliament on November 29.

The 31-kilometer long Kumanovo-Beljakovce section of the railway to Bulgaria is already completed and will be put into use in January. Of the second section, from Kumanovo to Kriva Palanka, 27.3 percent have been completed, and the deadline is 2026.

Photo: BTA