Construction work on Trakia highway should start by the middle of this year, Regional Development Minister Assen Gagauzov said yesterday during a news conference on transport infrastructure. Two highway sectors will be completed in 2006. Work on the other parts will resume once the court rules on the highway concession. A consortium of Portuguese and Bulgarian companies won the concession tender. Additional information, however, revealed the companies did not have the turnover to qualify for such a major project, 24 Chassa newspaper reported.
By the middle of 2006, the reconstruction of six road sections using EU funds will also begin. The Transport Ministry will provide funding for two temporary terminals of  the Varna and Bourgas airports, Transport Minister Petar Moutafchiev said. This would be necessary if by the end of the month, the court does not decide the fate of the airports' concession. Varna airport needs an arrival terminal, Bourgas a departure terminal. The project will cost between 300 000 and 400 000 leva per terminal. Currently the two airports receive four times more arrivals than they can accommodate without problems.