The European Corridor VIII connects the east and west of Europe by interconnecting the transport flows from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea, crossing Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania to Italy. The Corridor has 1,300 km of railways and 906 km of roads, the infrastructure connecting the large ports in the region. The importance of this corridor has increased in the pan-European transport system and includes the routes to Italian ports on Bari/Brindisi-Durres/Vlore-Tirana-Popgradec-Skopje-Sofia-Burgas-Varna axis.
To make the authorities aware of the importance of Corridor VIII on European markets, at the end of March 2012, Bulgaria and Italy decided to coope-rate in order to make Corridor 8 one of the European Union’s priority in the “Connecting Europe” Facility. “Bulgaria and Italy will support the joint projects of Corridor VIII and we have agreed to work in elaborating projects so that this route will be one of the European Commission’s priority projects and to get financing through the “Connecting Europe” Facility”, declared Bulgaria’s President, Rosen Plevneliev, during a meeting with his Italian counterpart, Giorgio Napolitano.
Corridor VIII could become a vital connection for the transport system connecting Central Asia and Western Europe through the Black Sea, the Balkans and the Adriatic Sea by bringing benefits to the economic development in the region and delivering the best connection to ports, permitting the volumes of raw materials to grow and their accession in the European markets.
One of the hindrances in developing the project is the lack of a railway connection between Bulgaria and Macedonia. However, recently, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has granted EUR 48.2 Million to Macedonia for the rehabilitation of the Eastern section of Corridor VIII at a total cost of EUR 60.7 Million. Bids would be launched by September 2012.
According to the bank, the section is 30.8-km long and this investment is part of an investment program of EUR 447 Million, an amount necessary for the finalization of the entire eastern section which has a total length of 88.2 km. The project will be implemented in three phases, the first representing the rehabilitation of 30.8 km, the second – 34 km and the third – 23.4 km of railways. If the eastern section of the Corridor (in Macedonia) will be completely rehabilitated, the line will facilitate commercial exchange between Bulgaria, Macedonia (avoiding the transit via Serbia) and Albania, will have a connection with TRACECA and will deliver the best connection to Ita-lian ports.
Bulgaria is actively involved in reviving transport on this corridor, focusing on implementing the rehabilitation project of Plovdiv – Burgas section, for which, in July 2011, the Commission decided to allocate EUR 175 Million through the Cohesion Fund. Also, as part of Corridor VIII, Bulgaria will build an intermodal terminal in Sofia whose investment is estimated at EUR 26 Million.
Albania, Bulgaria and Macedonia have to invest around EUR 1 Billion for the finalization of Corridor VIII, Bulgarian authorities estimate.
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