The Road Infrastructure Agency and the World Bank are Partners in the Efforts for the Enhancement of the Effectiveness and the Sustainable Development of the Road Sector
The results of the cooperation between the Road Infrastructure Agency and the World Bank were discussed at a working meeting in Bansko. The Minister of Regional Development, Desislava Terzieva, the Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications, Danail Papazov, the Chairman of the Management Board of the Road Infrastructure Agency, eng. Stefan Chaykov, the permanent representative of the World Bank, Marcus Repnik, advisors and experts from the World Bank, the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the state administration and others participated in it.
The international financial institution is a consultant of the state road administration in the preparation of strategic documents related to enhancement of the effectiveness and the sustainable development of the road sector, the institutional capacity and absorption of European funds in the road infrastructure up to year 2020.
Minister Terzieva welcomed the participants in the meeting and emphasized that the Road Infrastructure Agency is one of the most effectively functioning state agencies and serious efforts have been made to increase the administrative capacity in the last few years. The Minister of Regional Development indicated that the infrastructure may not be built up and maintained without any money. No investments have been made in the rehabilitation of the second-class and third-class roads for many years and due to this there are sections in poor condition nowadays, Terzieva said. The Minister emphasized that each year a minimum amount of between 70 and 150 million BGN is to be invested for the repair of the secondary road network apart from the funds for current repairs and maintenance of the road network.
The Chairman of the Management Board of Road Infrastructure Agency, eng. Stefan Chaykov, presented the strategic objectives before the Agency in the next few years. They are the development of a sustainable road infrastructure, integration of the national into the European network, enhancement the safety of the road infrastructure and effective management of the road sector. Eng. Chaykov indicated that the implementation of these objectives will improve and develop the cross-border links, will attract international transit traffic and boost the competitiveness of the economy. According to eng. Chaykov the investments in repair and maintenance projects will inject funds into the economy of the region and will create new workplaces. The experience of the USA with the Obama Stimulus indicates that the activities, related to road maintenance and repair, create a lot of workplaces. The investigations show that repair and maintenance of the existing infrastructure protect it from premature reconstruction, which would be from 4 to 14 times more expensive, the Chairman of the Management Board of the Road Infrastructure Agency declared.
Key documents in the road sector were developed with the expertise of the World Bank – a business plan for the Road Infrastructure Agency, a road safety action plan for up to year 2020, a medium-term program for the roads, IT strategy and so on.