English
The topic of the railway connection with Bulgaria was reopened by DUI Vice President Bujar Osmani, who accused the Government of failing to secure a contract for the construction of the Corridor 8 railway and alleged that 60.7 million euros of European funds were lost because of this. However, instead of defending, the Government launched a counterattack.
Deputy Prime Minister and Transportation Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski said that the criticism comes from a man who was part of the government that, according to him, left the project in a state that could practically not be realized. Nikoloski claims that the current Government inherited a tender for a railway line that ended with, as he says, a “blind tunnel halfway”, and the deadlines for using European IPA funds were already about to expire.
Instead of continuing with a dysfunctional project, the Government decided to cancel the tender and open new talks with the European Union and Bulgaria. The result, as the minister said, is an agreement for the construction of a complete cross-border tunnel, which will be implemented with a grant from the European Union.
Additionally, Nikoloski informed that the first meeting of the joint Macedonian-Bulgarian working group has already been held, and a joint address to the European Union, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is being prepared to secure the financial construction. He also pointed out that a grant of 149 million euros has already been secured for the third phase of Corridor 8.
That is why, according to Nikoloski, Osmani’s criticism is an attempt to divert attention from the decisions made during the period when DUI was part of the government. In the “X” post, he said that the current government is “fixing another stalled project”, adding that “there will be a railway, just like highways”.
The debate over Corridor 8 is apparently once again turning into a political showdown over who blocked the project and who is now unblocking it. What is certain for now is that the two sides offer a completely different picture of the same project – Osmani speaks of a missed opportunity and lost funds, while Nikoloski claims that it is precisely with the change in approach that the conditions have been created for the railway connection to finally gain a realistic perspective.