147km of highways were built in Bulgaria in the past two years, Regional Development and Public Works Minister Assen Gagauzov said, when presenting a report about the ministry’s work over that same period.

17 km of the Trakia highway and 23km of the Maritsa highway would be unveiled soon, Gagauzov said as quoted by Focus news agency.

Nearly 2130km of roads have been repaired in 2005 and 2006. Another 2000km of roads would be reconstructed and rebuild by the end of 2007, Gagaouzov said.

The investments in road infrastructure would reach 257.6 million leva by the end of 2007. Tenders for rebuilding second and third class roads would be launched and were expected to total 250 million leva.

Gagaouzov said that toll for the Trakia highway might be introduced in the beginning of 2010 at the earliest, in case a concessionaire would construct the highway.

The future of the Trakia highway would be known by the end of October 2007. By that time Eurostat and the Cabinet would decide whether the construction of the highway would be given under concession or started immediately. The construction should be completed in three years.

If the construction would not be given under concession, funding would be found through a loan or in the budget. A loan would delay the construction with about a year and a half, while Gagaouzov stated it would be unlikely to fund the construction from the budget.