Stavreski: Construction of Corridor 10 section to revive economy

Construction of Corridor 10 highway section Demir Kapija-Smokvica will begin this summer, which along with other measures, is to help the economy's revival and increase of investments, said Vice Premier and Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski on Tuesday.
"The Budget review has secured funds for capital investments in the amount of Denar 21,5 billion (EUR 350 million), which are at the disposal of ministries and companies in Macedonia for capital investments. This is a large amount, which I expect would be properly used, and alongside the EUR 100 million provided by the European Investment Bank by the end of June, should help in the achievement of a positive growth rate", Minister Stavreski told reporters after today's session of the Financial Stability Committee.
He stressed the Government should continue to stimulate investment policies, adding that Macedonia, being a country with low budget deficit, should use the room for increase of investments, thus stimulating growth.According to the FinMin, these are the beast measures that a government of a relatively small country could implement.
"If this year's capital investments amount to Denar 21,5 billion, up by 20 percent compared to 2011, along with EUR 100 million for SMEs loans, project Demir Kapija-Smokvica, as well as series of other infrastructure projects, I believe this is the best way to help the Macedonian industry and construction sector", underlined Stavreski.

NATO grant for reconstruction of Corridor 10 bridges

A NATO grant of EUR 8.6 million will be used for the reconstruction of 13 bridges at road section Katlanovo-Veles, resulting from the memorandum of understanding over the project for overhaul of bridges along Corridor 10, which Minister of Transport and Communications Mile Janakieski and KFOR Chief of Staff, Brigadier-General Rex Spitler signed on Wednesday.

The reconstruction represents the third stage of the project, whereas the Faculty of Civil Engineering is set to develop the draft-plan in the coming three months.

Minister Janakieski said a public call for construction companies is to be announced by September, whereas the contractor should be selected by December.

"Works should start next spring and finish by the end of 2014", added Janakieski.

The two previous stages of the project, worth EUR 22,5 million, encompassed the reconstruction of 51 bridges at road sections Katlanovo-Veles, Skopje-Blace and Demir Kapija-Gevgelija

Macedonia Promises Bulgaria Progress on 'Corridor 8'

Macedonia's government has agreed with Bulgaria's that the still imaginary project for Pan-European Transport Corridor No. 8 is a priority, the Bulgarian Transport Ministry announced.
Macedonia's new promises to help launch at last the transport corridor have come at a meeting of Bulgaria's Deputy Transport Minister Kamen Kichev with his Macedonian counterpart Tehir Hani.
Pan-European Corridor No. 8 – a parallel linking the Bulgarian Black Sea ports to the Albanian Adriatic ports via Macedonia along and its extension to Italy, a supposedly vital chain in the proposed shortest route between East and Central Asia and Western Europe – has been talked about for years with grand expectations for boosting trade and development in the Balkans – but has seen little realization.

Probably the most important obstacle for the project is the lack of a railway connection between Bulgaria and Macedonia, with the Macedonian state balking at the construction of several dozen kilometers of line on its territory.
Bulgaria's Deputy Transport Minister Kichev has presented to the Macedonian government the transport road and railway section under construction and/or rehabilitation in Bulgaria that are part of the proposed route of Corridor 8, the Transport Ministry in Sofia said.
These include the Trakiya Highway and the Lyulin Highway; sections from the Sofia-Burgas railway and the Karnobat-Sindel railway; and the modernization of Port Varna and Port Burgas on the Black Sea.
"The project for the construction of the Sofia-Skopje railway is of strategic significance both because it would connect the railway networks of the two states, and because it would held for the completion of the Corridor 8 route," Kichev told his Macedonian counterpart.
He further said the Bulgarian government needs to construct only 2.5 km of railway from the village of Gyueshevo to the Macedonian border.
"We are ready to build it right now if the Republic of Macedonia starts constructing their section," Milcho Lambrev, Director-General of Bulgaria's National Company "Railway Infrastructure.
"The Bulgarian Transport Ministry further says that Macedonia's Ministry of Transport and Communication "is in an advanced phase of the feasibility study for the railway line from Kumanovo to Deve Bair", the missing railway section on Macedonian territory.
"We are optimistic that we will complete the railway in 5 years," the Macedonian Transport Ministry is quoted as saying.