Brussels decides the fate of the 35 Bulgarian trains from the Recovery Plan

It is still uncertain whether Bulgaria will be able to acquire the 35 electric multiple-unit trains financed with money from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP). A month ago, Transport Minister Grozdan Karadjov announced that he would try to save some of the European money for the trains, and that the country’s budget would pay for the machines that are not delivered by the deadline of August 2026.

However, from Karadjov's speech in parliament on Friday, it was evident that all train units are in question, as the government still awaits the opinion of the European Commission, which will decide whether to approve the plan.

We are still not sure whether we will be able to purchase these 35 trains as we are still waiting for an opinion from the European Commission on whether they will be admissible under the RRP," Karadjov said during the parliamentary hearing.

The saga with the 35 trains has been going on for 2 years now, as the deal seems increasingly complicated and difficult to implement. The investment was almost lost, but in early January, Karadjov commented that it could at least be partially saved.

In February, the tender, launched by former Transport Minister Georgi Gvozdeykov, was extended. The Bulemu Consortium was selected as the contractor, which includes the French Alstom and the Bulgarian RPV Invest. Bulemu’s offer was among the highest of all four that were submitted. Their offered price is a bit over 440 million euros, and the agreed delivery period is 28 months, which means that the deadline would have to be shifted to mid-2027.

However, the final deadline for the absorption of funds under the RRP is August 2026. Because of this, the EC must say whether and what part of the units can be financed by the RRP.

What I see from my position as a minister is that we cannot find such funds from the budget alone. The only chance is to get leeway from the Commission," Karadjov said.

The minister commented that 12 of the trains in question could arrive by August next year, and the rest will arrive by July 2027.

This is only if the contract is signed," Karadjov added.

According to him, if a purchase is not made, the servicing of the lines will depend on the passenger operators, who will have to procure new trains themselves. The minister said that the tender for selecting an operator to carry out activities under a contract with the state will be held this year.

The additional 5 trains from Skoda

So far, only 20 multiple-unit trains, which will be delivered by the Czech manufacturer Škoda, have been financed with funds under the Transport Connectivity Operational Program (for 261 million euros). Under this contract, 5 additional trains were ordered for 65 million euros, excluding VAT. However, they are financed under the operational program.

A week ago, the government officially included this investment for financing by adding changes to the program.

Today, however, Karadjov stated that, if authorized by the Commission, these 5 additional units will be transferred for financing under the RRP, "in order to free up funds for other important projects under the program." However, he did not specify what these important projects were.

From April to August next year, we can expect these 25 Skoda trains,” said the minister.

Translated by Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov