Five working groups have two weeks to decide how Bulgaria's state rail operator BDZ and the private firm Ivkoni Express will carry passengers from 13 December 2026. Transport and communications minister Georgi Peev set the deadline, the ministry press office said.

Peev and deputy minister Tsveta Timeva met today with representatives of BDZ, the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC), Ivkoni Express and the Railway Administration Executive Agency. They asked for a report on how far the preparations have got.

The groups will work on five topics: rolling stock, moving staff, depots and maintenance, the timetable, and ticket sales. They are expected to come up with specific decisions on the key issues.

The meeting also covered trains. Besides the trains it gets from BDZ under the contract, Ivkoni Express must provide its own.

"I will not allow BDZ to be left unable to run its share of rail services," Peev said.

Another topic was the staff who will move to the private operator. The minister wants clear guarantees for their social rights. "People must have guarantees for the whole 12-year period, a full social package and conditions comparable to those BDZ offers," he said.

Peev said the ministry's current team inherited the contract, which is part of Bulgaria's commitments under the Recovery and Resilience Plan. The tender is over and the contract must be carried out, so the ministry is looking for a sensible way to do it.

The ministry will give full support as far as the law allows. The minister said it must be clear how far the preparations have got, what is still missing, which processes can be sped up and where the administrative procedure stands. Peev said he hopes for a positive result.

The ministry said it will help to remove obstacles and keep the administrative procedures moving on time. It said the aim is for the service under the contract to run in full and as the law requires, and for the commitments to be met in the public interest.

The operators were chosen in an open, competitive tender. The 12-year contracts were signed in early 2026 by Grozdan Karadzhov, then deputy prime minister and transport and communications minister in a caretaker government.

The Western region, which has about 75% of rail services in Bulgaria, goes to BDZ – Passenger Services Ltd. Ivkoni Express JSC ranked first for the Northern region, with 14% of services, and for the Southern region, with 11%. Together that is 25% of passenger rail services in Bulgaria.