Bulgaria and North Macedonia will complete the construction of the railway connection between the two countries by 2030, said the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport and Communications after a meeting between caretaker Transport Minister Korman Ismailov and Macedonian Ambassador Agneza Rusi Popovska.
After the ratification of the agreement on the construction of the cross-border railway tunnel by the parliaments of the two countries, the next phase is the formation of a Joint Committee, led by the deputy ministers of transport, which will coordinate the preparation, construction and future operation of the facility, BTA reports.
According to the statement, Minister Ismailov noted the accelerated pace at which the Bulgarian side is working on the modernization of the Sofia – Pernik – Radomir – Gjueshevo railway line. Ambassador Rusi Popovska, on the other hand, emphasized that cooperation between the institutions of the two countries is an important prerequisite for the smooth implementation of the project.
The agreement on the cross-border railway tunnel was signed on November 6, 2025 in Gjueshevo. Ratification followed in the Macedonian Parliament in December last year, and this month in the Bulgarian Parliament.
The first of the three sections on Macedonian territory for the railway connection with Bulgaria, the first one, Kumanovo-Beljakovce, has been opened, and the second one, Beljakovce-Kriva Palanka, with a length of 34 kilometers, over 30 percent of the work has been completed and the last tunnel out of a total of 15 was recently broken through.
