The Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Evgenii Chachev, and Franco Rapino, General Manager of SPEA of Italy, signed Thursday a contract for feasibility study and design of a project for the Ljulin and Strouma highways. The highways are part of European Corridor IV and of the European Union strategy for its development. The project will get financial aid to the amount of EUR 3,34 million from PHARE and will be implemented within 20 months. The two highways will improve the quality of the route from Sofia to the border with Greece, will guarantee the safety of traffic and the quality of transport services, will reduce vehicles' expenses and divert transit traffic from population centres. SPEA had an annual turnover of EUR 50 million in 1999. It owns the Autostrade Group holding company, which is the world's biggest toll collection company operating 3,100 km of highways and has worked in over 20 countries