EUR 87 million under the operational programme Transport Connectivity, earmarked for the Russe-Veliko Tarnovo motorway is being redirected to the Europe motorway, connecting Sofia with the border with Serbia. Almost EUR 500 million for the modernization of the railway line from Sofia to the border with North Macedonia will be redirected to the so-called Trakia railway highway from Sofia to Burgas.

These decisions were made on 27 February by the operational programme’s steering committee. The protocol with the decision was approved on 13 March by the government. The motives for these changes is not to lose the European funding, because the two frozen projects are not proceeding according to schedule and will not be completed and reported by 2029. This means that by 2030, the only motorway that will be ready will be the Russe-Byala section; for the section to Veliko Tarnovo there will have to be new financing.