From today for the first time gas flows from Greece to Bulgaria through the gas pipeline

Minister Ivan Shishkov: During the protests against the caretaker government for not wanting to complete the construction of the gas link, I had the feeling that I was part of another cabinet

For the first time today, with the start of the 72-hour tests, gas from Greece to Bulgaria should flow through the interconnector. This is what the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, architect Ivan Shishkov, said on BNT’s “More of the Day” programme. He commented that he had been surprised by the protests against the caretaker cabinet, held on the grounds that it did not want to complete the construction of the gas link, as the entire Council of Ministers was harnessed to the task of getting the gas link into operation, but in accordance with all regulatory requirements. “I had the feeling that I was part of another cabinet,” he said.

There are currently no construction gaps, but there is unfinished vertical plan, sidewalks and tile. The most pressing work has been completed and is to be certified tomorrow or the day after and Act 15 will be issued once the builder submits all documents. “DNCS has literally become a second supervisor on site. Every day they are in direct communication with the supervision, every day we collect documentation, every day we ask for documentation, which unfortunately they have not given us 100%,” architect Shishkov said. He has asked other ministers to assist with contacts with private laboratories, which depend on the issuance of certain certificates for the commissioning of the site. Following the signing of Act 15, a state acceptance committee will be formed immediately and the interconnector is ready to be commissioned within a few days.

 And at this moment the employees of “Motorways” and the toll management are helping to restore the damage from the disaster in the villages around Karlovo, said architect Shishkov. A phased release of water has begun, the regional minister added. Until yesterday there was no electricity and it was impossible to get the W&S pumps working. Temporary connections need to be made in the villages, as well as connections from the captation to the water mains, so all W&S staff are on the ground doing their best to restore the water supply.

In “More of the day” Minister Shishkov also announced that most likely tomorrow or the day after tomorrow the tunnel “Echemishka” will be opened and by September 30 there is an assurance that the tunnel “Vitinya” will be opened for traffic.

The builders of Lots 1 and 3 of the Hemus Motorway have already been paid, and more documents are awaited from those building Lot 2, architect Shishkov said, expressing hope that these three sections will be built within the old deadlines. He reiterated his idea that with a change in the text of the Spatial Planning Act to legalize the illegal construction in Lots 4 and 5, they should be declared tolerable if the construction done on them is fit. “Unfortunately, for seven months no one has been willing to table this text in the National Assembly,” the Minister said and announced that today amendments to the Spatial Planning Act have been published on the website of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works for public consultation, after which it will be tabled in the next Parliament.

Later in the commentary segment after the central evening news on Nova TV architect Ivan Shishkov announced that the future Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo highway will be declared a national object and a detailed spatial plan for the section from Ruse to Byala and the Byala bypass is to be approved.