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EIB Withdraws from Trakiya Highway
Project 2005-05-19 European Investment Bank officially confirmed Thursday that it is to withdraw from the Bulgarian Trakiya highway project. In an interview for the Radio New Europe a representative of the bank press office said that the institution was to allot a EUR 100 M loan to Bulgaria for the construction of the Orizovo-Stara Zagora-Karnobat- Bourgas section of the Trakiya highway under an agreement from 2000. Under its statute EIB is able to finance only projects that have been awarded through a tender. The EIB stated that is will not participate in a project that is not governmental and whose concessionaire has not been approved by the bank. The EIB's official also explained that the bank is currently negotiating with the Bulgarian government over the Trakiya highway. Just a day earlier the German Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung reported that the granting of the Trakiya concession to a Portuguese consortium without a tender is "insolence" which might cost the Bulgarian state some EUR 100 M. Last month, the government signed the contract for granting a 35-year concession for the Trakiya Highway to a Portuguese consortium. The cost of the project is estimated at EUR 720 M, with EUR 590 M planned investments until end 2007 and another EUR 125 M until end 2009. The deal has been challenged by observers, including the Transparency International Bulgaria, a non-governmental organisation devoted to combating corruption. The country's Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC) gave green light to the concession of the Trakiya highway in the beginning of May provided that the concessionaire meets several conditions. *** sustineti [romania_eu_list] prin 1% din impozitul pe 2005 - detalii la http://www.europe.org.ro/euroatlantic_club/unulasuta.php *** Yahoo! Groups Links
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