Japan's Ambassador in Sofia Tsuneharu Takeda conferred with Bulgaria's Transport Minister Peter Moutafchiev here on Monday to express the Japanese Government's intention to extend a loan of some 37,000 million yen (370 million US dollars) for a new Official Development Assistance (ODA) project for construction and development of new container terminals at the ports of Varna and Bourgas, the Japanese Embassy said in a press release.

The new terminals and adjoining facilities and equipment of the two large international ports will help handle the growing number of containers and achieve a higher logistical effectiveness. Considering that the Black Sea is an eastern gateway of the EU to Central Asia and the Middle East, the two ports are expected to cope with an increasing cargo container traffic in the near future, the press release said.

The Government of Japan has supported Bulgaria's efforts to build stable democracy and a market-oriented economy through sustained economic development in various forms, such as loans, grants, technical cooperation etc. to a total value exceeding 840 million dollars.

For this cause, the Government of Japan has officially extended loans of some 400 million dollars under the previous five projects, and the assistance under this new project will be nearly equivalent to the total amount of the loans under the five previous projects, the Embassy specified.

Moutafchiev expressed to Takeda the hope that the success of this project will turn into yet another symbol of the traditional ties of friendship between Japan and Bulgaria.

The Transport Ministry Press Centre confirmed that Moutafchiev has approved the Japanese proposal to extend the loan, BTA reports.