Bulgaria's transport ministry said on Tuesday it has wrapped up market consultations under its EU-backed plan to purchase new rolling stock and public procurement procedures for 1.7 billion levs ($902 million/869 million euro) in total are soon to be announced.

A total of 32 applications under the five different requests for proposals were received by the June 30 deadline, the transport ministry said in a statement.

Proposals were received from some of the world's largest manufacturers and suppliers of rolling stock and on-board equipment, such as Alstom, CAF, Hyundai Rotem, PESA Bydgoszsz, Siemens Mobility, Skoda Transportation, Stadler Rail, FPS Poznan, KONCAR-Electric vehicles, Thales, Talgo, Express Service, Vossloh Locomotives, CZ LOKO and CRRC Corporation, the ministry added.

This is the largest public procurement tender in the country that will receive European Union financing under Bulgaria's national Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) totalling some 13 billion levs, according to the statement.

Bulgaria expects to have completely overhauled its railway fleet by 2026.

A similar market consultation approach will be adopted for two more railway infrastructure projects approved under the RRP, namely the construction of an intermodal terminal in the city of Ruse, which is across the Danube from Romania and for the implementation of a European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) signalling and speed control system in the Ruse-Kaspichan railway section, the ministry added.