Dnevnik reported that the consortium between Bulgarian road firms Trace and SK-13 and Italian sector player GCF has been chosen to undertake the overhaul of the railroad section linking the country's second largest city of Plovdiv with Bourgas, on the Black Sea coast. The consortium pitched the lowest bid of BGL 380 million at the tender.

Mr Aleksander Tsvetkov transport minister of Bulgaria said that "As much as BGL 110 million have been saved for the rehabilitation of the railroad section."

The ministry's previous attempt to award the railway stretch construction fell through after the European Commission called for its suspension over irregularity concerns.

The project brings the volume of contracts awarded to Trace in 2010 to BGL 550 million. The company is also constructing two stretches of Sofia's underground system worth BGL 360 million which were granted in a 2008 auction.

The figures have been added to Trace's nine month financial report, which boasts a sevenfold annual surge in net profit and a 65% growth in sales to BGL 186 million.

(Sourced from Dnevnik)