Trans-European corridors

The two meetings of the European Ministers of Transport, the one held in Crete and the other in Helsinki defined the ten European Transport Corridors (ETC). Five of them, namely ETC No IV, VII, VIII, IX and X are crossing the territory of Bulgaria.
 
The European Transport Corridor No IV - Dresden - Prague - Bratislava - Gyor - Budapest - Arad - Kraiowa - Sofia - Plovdiv - Istanbul with a branch Sofia - Kulata - Thessaloniki is the route connecting the Central European countries with the Aegean Sea (the Thessaloniki Sea port). The ETC section on the territory of Bulgaria (Vidin-Sofia-CBCP”Kulata”) is 446 km long. Of that, 86 km of primary roads and motorways have been rehabilitated under the programmes Transit Roads 1,2.
 
The European Transport Corridor No VII - river route “The Rhine-the Mein-the Danube”. The ETC section on the territory of Bulgaria Danube, being an European water route, is of international importance. Its length of some 760 km. It is envisaged to improve and upgrade the approaches to the river ports in the country and to provide accesses to the national road network.
 
The European Transport Corridor No VIII - Duras-Tirana-Kaftan/Kafasan-Skopje-Deve Bair-Gueshevo-Sofia-Plovdiv-Burgas-(Varna) is the connection between the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea regions, Russia and the countries of Central Asia and it crosses Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria. The total length of the Corridor on the territory of Bulgaria (CBCP”Gueshevo”-Pernik-Sofia-Burgas-Varna) is 639 km. Of this length, 336 km of first and second-class roads and motorways have been rehabilitated under the programmes Transit Roads 1,2.
 
The European Transport Corridor No IX - Helsinki-Sankt Petersbourg-Pskov-Vitebsk-Kiev-Lyubashevka-Kishinew-Bucharest-Russe-Dimitrovgrad-Alexandroupolis serves to connect the countries of North East Europe through Romania and Bulgaria with the Seaport Alexandroupolis on the Aegean Sea. The total length of the Corridor on the territory of Bulgaria in the direction Rousse-Veliko Tarnovo-Gabrovo-Stara Zagora-Dimitrovgrad-Kardjali is 455 km plus 20 km new road construction, included in the CBC Programme. The Rehabilitation Programmes Transit Roads 1,2 involve 219 km of roads and motorways on the Corridor.
 
The European Transport Corridor No X - Salzburg-Lubliana-Zagreb-Belgrade-Nish-Skopje-Veles-Thessaloniki, with a branches: Gratz-Maribor-Zagreb; Budapest-Novi Sad-Belgrade; Nish-Sofia (Dimitrovgrad-Istanbul); Veles-Bitolya-Florina-Via Ignatia-Igumenitsa. This Corridor was approved at the conference in Helsinki in 1997 as a step against the isolation the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and strengthens the peace in the region. It runs along the Trans-European Motorway “North-South”(TEM), following the traditional route to South-East Europe and the Balkans. The total length of the Corridor on the territory of Bulgaria in the direction CBCP”Kalotina”-Sofia consists of 60 km. It is planned to grant a concession for the construction of the motorway Kalotina-Sofia, including the Sofia Ring Road


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