Ministers from eight European countries discussed the impact of the war in Ukraine on infrastructure projects

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine is already having a serious impact on all sectors of the economy, including the transport industry. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Vladimir Varbanov during a ministerial video conference on the Consequences of Russian aggression against Ukraine in terms of infrastructure investment. The event was attended by Ministers and Deputy Ministers from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia.

Currently, 12 major railway and road infrastructure projects are being implemented in Bulgaria, financed by the Transport and Transport Infrastructure OP and the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The conflict in Ukraine and the consequences of the COVID crisis are the reason for strong dynamics in the prices of basic and raw materials in construction, Varbanov explained. The broken supply chains are another problem and the Bulgarian side is actively working to provide alternative sources of materials that have so far been supplied by Ukraine and Russia, the Deputy Minister said. He gave the example that since the beginning of hostilities, the price of iron has risen by almost 50%, and 40% of it is imported from Russia and Ukraine.

The overall conclusion of the conference is that all countries face the same problems related to increased prices, shortages of construction and transport staff and disrupted or broken supply chains. Bulgaria made a proposal to the countries, which was unanimously accepted, to seek a common approach at European Union level to solve current problems. Two joint proposals are to be sent to the European Commission - one for the Construction Sector and one for the Transport Sector.