Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications

The Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Danail Papazov opened the meeting on discussing the opportunities for improving navigation conditions on the river Danube today in Russe. The State Secretary of the Ministry of Transport of Romania, Iulian Matache, the European Coordinator on inland waterways and the Rhine-Danube Corridor Karla Peijs, and the Director General of the Secretariat of the Danube Commission Peter Margic took part in the event.

The aim of the meeting was to outline the short and long term joint Bulgarian-Romanian measures for improving navigation on the river Danube that can be implemented in the 2014-2020 period. Among the activities of prior importance is the implementation of the project “Improvement of navigation in the common Bulgarian-Romanian section of the river Danube”. Thus by 2020 the cargo transportations on the river will increase by 20 per cent and obstacles for navigation will be overcome by considering the specific characteristics of every section of the river Danube and its tributaries as well as by establishing effective management of water infrastructure, said Minister Papazov.

The Bulgarian and the Romanian parties presented the progress on the common section of the river and measures for improving navigation. The possibilities for financing the proposed measures under Connecting Europe Facility and/or the European Structural and Investment Fund were discussed.

The initiative for improving coordination and pinpointing specific measures was supported by the Danube Commission. The European coordinator Karla Peijs, who expressed her personal commitment by participating in the meeting, said that navigation on the river Danube is important for all European countries and that today’s meeting is a significant step for Bulgaria and Romania.

The participants in the meeting signed a Joint Statement for better coordination of the efforts for improving the navigation in the common Bulgarian-Romanian section of the river and committed to provide timely information on the level of readiness and implementation of the proposed measures.