Skopje, 17 December 2025 (MIA) — Political developments in Bulgaria should have no effect on the Corridor VIII railway construction, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski said Wednesday.

"Both we and Bulgaria are working on it," he said. "We have already reached a stage where politics has no influence on this entire project."

Talking to the press earlier Wednesday, Deputy PM Nikoloski said the crossborder railway construction agreement with Bulgaria would be ratified in Parliament later in the day. He also said Bulgarian Deputy PM Grozdan Karadjov, at a recent meeting in Brussels, had promised that the Bulgarian Parliament would do the same.

Nikoloski also said teams of experts led by the directors of the two countries' railway infrastructure companies had met Monday and Tuesday in Sofia to prepare the project documentation together. 

"The second meeting will be in January," he said, adding that the EU was expected to provide funding for the project through the Connecting Europe Facility.

Speaking about the Bulgarian part of the railway, he said it was estimated to be worth 1.2 billion euro. 

Regarding the tender call for the Macedonian section to the Bulgaria border, the transport minister said it had been posted on EU's official tenders portal.

"The process is led by the EU, together with Railways Infrastructure. That's the first step. The second step, by the end of the month, pending the Christmas holidays, the tender for supervision should also be published," Nikoloski said.

According to him, a tender for a contractor for the third section will be published at the end of January.

Asked about the Corridor X high-speed rail project, Nikoloski said preparations were underway and once construction works began, it would take no more than five years until completion.

"We are currently carrying out all preparatory activities that may not be apparent to the public, but are most important for the project's successful implementation," he said. 

"What we are saying is that from the moment the first digger is on the ground, it should take no more than five years until works are completely done — and it will take no more than five years because we will go into this job well prepared," Nikoloski said. mr/