Nearly 500 million euro would be invested in repairing and resurfacing Bulgaria’s roads next year, Regional Development and Public Works Minister Assen Gagaouzov said.

The sum was double that allocated for infrastructure reconstruction in 2007, he told Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).

According to Gagaouzov, Bulgaria was ready to start negotiations about the concession of the Cherno More (Black sea) highway in March 2008.

Currently, the route of the highway was being clarified, Dnevnik daily reported.

The highway will connect the coastal cities of Varna and Bourgas. It is part of European corridor VIII and will be 103km long. By the end of 2006, only 10km of the highway had been completed, Dnevnik said.