Bulgaria's Struma Motorway: 24 Missing Kilometres to Cost €1.8 Billion

The last 24 kilometres of Bulgaria's Struma motorway, which run through the Kresna Gorge, are now expected to cost more than €1.8 billion and will not be completed before 2035, according to documents published as part of an action plan signed between Bulgaria, Greece and Romania.

A public consultation on the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the section from Sofia towards Kulata, which bypasses the gorge, takes place this evening at 18:00 in the Kresna municipality hall. The meeting has been organised jointly by the local authority and the coalition "Let's Save the Kresna Gorge".

The new documents reveal a four-year delay compared with the roadmap approved by the Bulgarian government in early 2025. The main reason is the late start of the EIA procedure for the route outside the protected gorge. The procedure was announced only a few weeks ago, about a year behind schedule.

According to the action plan, a 2-kilometre section with an estimated value of €15 million should be built by 2030, although it is not specified which section this is. The eastern bypass of Kresna, 23.6 km long, is scheduled for completion by 2031 and has an estimated cost of €913 million. Work on this stretch, which runs from Kulata towards Sofia, has a finished design and contractors selected but actual construction has not yet begun.

Meanwhile, a 4.2 km section of the Kresna bypass currently being built is expected to be ready by the end of 2027. In early October, a contract was signed for the Simitli bypass, a 2.7 km section worth nearly €90 million excluding VAT. Together, these two projects are expected to relieve traffic jams caused by traffic heading to Bansko and Razlog.

The most delayed part is the 23.6 km direction from Sofia to Kulata outside the Kresna Gorge, planned for completion by 2035 at a projected cost of €913 million. This section has been held up by long-standing disputes with environmental groups over moving the motorway out of the Kresna area. An EIA report, land expropriation plans, design work and tenders are still pending.

The Struma motorway is one of 25 key transport projects in the memorandum signed in Brussels at the end of September. Financing for the section outside the gorge has not yet been secured, with plans to apply for EU funding during the 2028–2034 programming period.

Citizens and organisations can submit their opinions online through the website of the coalition "Let's Save the Kresna Gorge" until 8 November inclusive. Representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Water, the Road Infrastructure Agency, the route designers and all interested parties have been invited to attend today's meeting.