Some 500 million euro will be invested in road construction and rehabilitation in Bulgaria next year, Regional Development and Public Works Minister Asen Gagaouzov told the media on Sunday.

The amount is double the size of this year's investments for such purposes. Between 2,500 and 3,000 km of roads will be repaired every year, he said.

"The pace of work in the last two years will help make up for the delay in road construction. I hope that three or four years from now Bulgaria will have very good roads," Gagaouzov said.

Maritsa will become the first completed motorway in the country, linking major cities and transport hubs in the south. A 42 km section will be built and a contract for another 67 km of the road will be awarded this year. The motorway will be completed by the end of 2009, he said.

Two sections of another southern motorway, Trakia, will be finished in the meantime.The Minister was speaking at a road opening ceremony in Shoumen Region.