Skopje, 28 November 2024 (MIA) - Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski said Thursday at a Q&A session in Parliament that “the Bulgarian side should gather the courage and hold the third meeting that was planned for this week” to discuss the construction of the third stage of the railway to Bulgaria.

Quizzed by SDSM MP Mitko Trajchulovski whether the construction of the Corridor VIII railway is intentionally being delayed while Corridor X is being prioritized, Nikoloski said the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Corridor X railway is “absolutely necessary”, noting that the vision is the construction of a high-speed railway that would operate at 200 km/h in passenger traffic and 120 km/h in freight traffic.

“I believe this would be the blood stream of Macedonia and make use of the strategic position. While this is being done, we are also working on Corridor VIII which has three sections,” Nikoloski said, adding that the first section, the 31 km long Kumanovo-Beljakovce section, is expected to be completed by the end of the year, regarding the second section, from Kumanovo to Kriva Palanka he said construction is moving slow and urged the Public Prosecutor’s Office to investigate. The third section, he said, was supposed to be discussed with the Bulgarian side at a meeting planned for this week, but that they asked for it to be postponed for next week.

“I expect them to gather the courage and hold the third meeting that was agreed. We had one meeting in Brussels, one in Sofia, and we were supposed to have one this week in Skopje. Now they are asking that it is moved for next week, then the next week... They should gather the courage and attend the meeting so we can close this topic once and for all. All our arguments are clear and still valid – we have to revise the price, because it is impossible for the construction of the railway with its electrification to cost EUR 560 million. We must work together to design the potential tunnel that would connect the two countries and they should complete their part of the job, i.e., connect to the border,” Nikoloski said.

Photo: MIA Archive