Several bilateral agreements for cooperation in various fields were signed today by the line ministers within the joint session of the governments of Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria, which is being held in Sofia.

As reported by the MIA correspondent from Sofia, the Ministers of Transport and Communications Blagoj Bochvarski and Nikolay Sabev signed two documents that strengthen the infrastructural connection between the two countries - for the railway Corridor 8 and for the direct air line Sofia - Skopje.

More specifically, a Memorandum for development of the railway connection Skopje - Sofia was signed, through the establishment of a joint working group, in order to accelerate the construction of the Corridor 8 railway and the Initiative for the establishment of an airline - Sofia - Skopje.

Corridor 8 will be one of the main topics on which the specific working group will work in the upcoming period, which includes infrastructure, and as Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski announced today at the opening of the intergovernmental session, work will be done on all parts of this corridor and the road. and the railway, but also in the field of telecommunications.

Bochvarski previously stated that Corridor 8 on our part, ie the expressway Rankovce-Kriva Palanka, the third lane to Deve Bair and the complete rehabilitation of the existing road should be completed by mid-2023, which will have a completely new Corridor 8, from Skopje to border with Bulgaria. It will be an investment of 100 million euros. The Minister also announced that the new way of cooperation will accelerate the dynamics of the railway to Bulgaria.

The direct airline was announced by the Bulgarian Prime Minister Petkov during his visit to Skopje, emphasizing that in a period of one month all analyzes and assessments will be made, and already in 60 this project will be realized.

Bochvarski had previously said that a company would be sought to implement cost-effective routes, such as Skopje-Sofia-Athens, in order to avoid subsidizing it.

The Bulgarian company Gulliver is mentioned, as well as the fact that these are low-cost flights that will further make an attractive interconnection for flights to Canada and the United States, but Bochvarski does not name specifics and says that all options are open. He emphasizes that he will first talk to operators that should be financially viable.

Bochvarski and Sabev today in Sofia signed a Memorandum of Liberalization of goods to and from third countries.

Agriculture and the economy are among the sectors that will be intensively worked on in the upcoming period. Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation in the Field of Agriculture, Agrarian Sciences, Rural Areas and Forestry Signed Today the Ministers of Agriculture of Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria, Ljupчоo Nikolovski and Ivan Ivanov.

The two countries' economy ministers, Kreshnik Bekteshi and Daniel Lorer, again signed a Memorandum of Understanding between IANMSP and the Agency for Promotion of Entrepreneurship of the Republic of Northern Macedonia.

Source: MIA