Bulgarian Railways In Jeopardy after Bank Ultimatum

Under its contract with KfW, the Bulgarian railway company was reportedly supposed to pay in instalments for the trains by 2017.

The 50 Siemens diesel and electric trains in question are the only modern trains of BDZ, and if it becomes devoid of them, the state company, could be reduced to using solely Soviet-made trains from the 1970s.

The news that KfW has asked for the trains back was a rumour until it was confirmed on Tuesday by civil servants from the Transport Ministry and BDZ, the BNR reported.

In the event that the German bank gets the trains back, Bulgaria's railway transport will end up in a disastrous situation, they have explained.

The decision of the German bank to ask for the Siemens trains back comes after the management of BDZ terminated its contract with insurance company Allianz Bulgaria and started to work with Bulstrad instead.

This move was allegedly in violation of the contract for the purchase of the diesel and electric trains from Siemens, and was made without any consultations with KfW, reports say.

Reports further claim that the problem with the trains now has to be decided on the inter-government level between the authorities of Bulgaria and Germany.

In addition to being the only modern vehicles of the Bulgarian State Railways, the Siemens trains are very important because they serve a number of commuter routes around several major cities, including Sofia.

A Parliamentary hearing session on Friday revealed that BDZ had not made any payments for the Siemens trains to KfW since 2010, and that the trains were supposed to be fully paid for by 2017.