European Investment Bank (EIB) would help Bulgaria utilise efficiently EU structural and cohesion funds, EIB president Philippe Maystadt told Bulgaria’s Regional Development and Public Works Minister Assen Gagauzov. EIB would aid the development of projects for infrastructure construction. The National Strategic Reference Framework was a key document for the co-operation, Maystadt said. Gagauzov and Maystadt also discussed EIB to assistance for the preparation of a financial plan for the Struma highway concession, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reported. Bulgaria would ask for nearly 150 million euro from EIB for reconstruction of the Plovdiv-Svilengrad railway route, BNR said. It was the biggest transport project that was currently carried out in Bulgaria. European Commission’s (EC) ISPA programme granted 153 million euro for the project, BNR said.