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Macedonia secures €145M for rail investments
Published: Fri, 2014-12-19 09:00-
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EBRD loans to finance rail infrastructure projects
The Macedonian government has obtained €145 million in loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to finance a number of major rail investments. These are to include the completion of a key 34 km-long section of the Pan-European Corridor VIII, the EBRD said in a statement.
The project is estimated to be worth a total of €600 million. Once completed, the rail connection will ultimately link the Black Sea coast in Bulgaria to the Adriatic coast in Albania, as well as Turkey.
In Macedonia, the corridor will extend to the town of Kriva Palanka, located in the country’s north-eastern part. The loans are provided to the state-run Macedonian Public Enterprise for Railway Infrastructure, according to the bank.
“The project will help integrate Macedonia’s infrastructure further with its neighbours, boosting the regional economy. The transport corridor will ultimately link the Black Sea in Bulgaria with the Adriatic Sea in Albania,” said Biljana Milosheska, Senior Banker at the EBRD.
The latest decision by the bank was praised by the Macedonian government as a key contribution to one of the country’s strategic projects.
“Construction of Corridor VIII Rail brings multiple political and economic values. It is a good opportunity to establish a bridge between the West and the East, and hence when the construction of the whole railway tracks is completed, traveling by land from Skopje to Istanbul will take an hour and a half less. This is a major project for the country, as it helps to build sustainable economic growth generated through cross-border trading,” said Zoran Stavreski, Macedonia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.
Av Jaroslaw Adamowski
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