The main problems delaying the execution of the Port Bourgas renovation and expansion project are more than 400,000 military shells on the sea floor of Bourgas bay and the transportation of sand.
Transport and Communications Minister Plamen Petrov announced this last Thursday after a meeting with representatives of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).
JBIC is financing a large portion of the project under a contract signed with the previous Government in 1998.
The bank allotted about $120 million in a loan which had to be repaid over 30 years with an annual interest of 2.7 per cent and a 10-year grace. A part of the loan, $500,000, was negotiated as a grant.
However, at the meeting last Thursday the executive director of JBIC for Europe and Central Asia, Hiroshi Togo, agreed to extend an additional grant of $250,000.
After the meeting, Petrov said that Bulgaria might repay the loan over 50 years, instead of 30.
Still, the loan from the Japanese bank will not cover the cost of the project completely.
In 1998, the expenses for the reconstruction and modernisation of the port were estimated at $130 million, but now they have risen to $161 million “due to ecological reasons,” Petrov said.
“A problem that needs a technological solution is the removal of 440,000 shells from the sea floor near the port. It now resembles a mine field,” he said.
Petrov said that neither the Ministry of Defence, nor the Transport and Communications Ministry had the budgets to overcome this obstacle.
The shells were sunk after World War I because of sanctions imposed on Bulgaria, which was on the losing side.
According to preliminary plans, the sand dug from the sea bottom in the zone of the port had to be deposited in the Vromos bay, near the towns of Chernomorets and Sozopol. However, protests by the local population prevented this.
Sand is now transported in the open sea 46km from the shore. Only this adds costs of $26 million to the project.
All additional expenses over the amount allotted by JBIC have to be covered by the Bulgarian side.
“The main problem is the increased cost of the project, which is not included in the budget because when the credit agreement was signed, the laws were different,” said Zlatolina Mukova, deputy minister of transport and communications, at a news briefing last Wednesday.
She said that when the contract with JBIC was signed, Port Bourgas was responsible for the additional expenses incurred on the project, but as of the beginning of 2000, dock fees are gathered by the port administration and go to the national budget, not to Port Bourgas.
Transport and Communications Minister Plamen Petrov announced this last Thursday after a meeting with representatives of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).
JBIC is financing a large portion of the project under a contract signed with the previous Government in 1998.
The bank allotted about $120 million in a loan which had to be repaid over 30 years with an annual interest of 2.7 per cent and a 10-year grace. A part of the loan, $500,000, was negotiated as a grant.
However, at the meeting last Thursday the executive director of JBIC for Europe and Central Asia, Hiroshi Togo, agreed to extend an additional grant of $250,000.
After the meeting, Petrov said that Bulgaria might repay the loan over 50 years, instead of 30.
Still, the loan from the Japanese bank will not cover the cost of the project completely.
In 1998, the expenses for the reconstruction and modernisation of the port were estimated at $130 million, but now they have risen to $161 million “due to ecological reasons,” Petrov said.
“A problem that needs a technological solution is the removal of 440,000 shells from the sea floor near the port. It now resembles a mine field,” he said.
Petrov said that neither the Ministry of Defence, nor the Transport and Communications Ministry had the budgets to overcome this obstacle.
The shells were sunk after World War I because of sanctions imposed on Bulgaria, which was on the losing side.
According to preliminary plans, the sand dug from the sea bottom in the zone of the port had to be deposited in the Vromos bay, near the towns of Chernomorets and Sozopol. However, protests by the local population prevented this.
Sand is now transported in the open sea 46km from the shore. Only this adds costs of $26 million to the project.
All additional expenses over the amount allotted by JBIC have to be covered by the Bulgarian side.
“The main problem is the increased cost of the project, which is not included in the budget because when the credit agreement was signed, the laws were different,” said Zlatolina Mukova, deputy minister of transport and communications, at a news briefing last Wednesday.
She said that when the contract with JBIC was signed, Port Bourgas was responsible for the additional expenses incurred on the project, but as of the beginning of 2000, dock fees are gathered by the port administration and go to the national budget, not to Port Bourgas.
