Regional Development Minister Tserovski Breaks Ground for Podkova-Makaza Approach to Bulgarian-Greek Border

Today Regional Development and Public Works Minister Valentin Tserovski broke ground for the Podkova-Makaza road to the Bulgarian-Greek border (at Makaza-Nimphaea). Attending was also HE Dimitris Kourkoulas, Head of Delegation of the European Commission to Bulgaria. The contracts for construction and independent construction supervision were signed at the end of last year with the Turkish consortium Kiska-Turan Hazinedaroglu and DV Consult of Germany. The construction of the Podkova-Makaza road is part of the Phare Cross-Border Cooperation (CBC) programme between Bulgaria and Greece. A total of 14,620,000 euros are available for the project under Phare and another 3,997,000 euros from the national budget. The Makaza checkpoint is the southern end of Road I-5 linking Bulgaria with the Greek road network. The project includes construction of 18 km of new road to the checkpoint and a 2-km extension to an existing road. The project is due for completion in June 2005. Public Relations and International Activity Directorate