The full accession of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen is one of the most significant events for the region, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadzhov said during the fifth edition of the Sofia Economic Forum. Over 18,000 Greek companies are operating in Bulgaria, with their investment volume exceeding EUR 3.5 billion. Minister Karadzhov emphasized the importance of the restoration of the railway link between Sofia, Kulata and Thessaloniki. This will open opportunities for talks with Romania on the multimodal railway corridor Thessaloniki-Sofia-Vidin-Calafat, Grozdan Karadzhov explained. Minister Karadzhov said that he had a meeting with his Greek counterpart Christos Staikouras. The two discussed the organisation of a tripartite meeting with Romania’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Sorin Grindeanu to jointly present a request to the European Commission for funding the Thessaloniki-Vidin corridor and the Alexandroupolis-Ruse-Varna-Burgas corridor.

Among the key projects is Corridor No. 8 – a strategic logistics route connecting the Adriatic and the Black Sea. The construction of the missing railway link from Gyueshevo to the border with North Macedonia, with a length of 2.4 km, is also planned. It will be financed under the Transport Connectivity Program.

• Economic forum to examine Bulgaria's contemporary challenges and potential

• The annual effect of Bulgaria's accession to Schengen by land will amount to BGN 1.63 billion