Bulgarian state railways are in grave condition and reform failure is unacceptable, Transport Minister Petar Moutafchiev said.

Moutafchiev talked about reforms in the sector on March 19. He said that concession has not been considered as an option but the railways’ condition could be improved through public- private partnership.

The railways telecommunications could be improved through such partnership, Moutafchiev said as quoted by Focus news agency.

Another problem was the lack of staff, Moutafchiev said. The lack of technical staff will have impact on Bulgaria’s overall industrial production, he said.

One of the ways to keep state railways workers was the introduction of differentiated price increase, Moutafchev said. Salary increases will vary from four to 20 per cent, he said.