Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications

No additional RO-Ro moorage fee will be introduced at Port Becket, announced the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Nikolina Angelkova following the negotiations with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development and Public Administration of Romania, Liviu Dragnea. During the one-day visit in Bucharest Minister Angelkova met with Eudgen Teodorovichi, Minister of the European Funds, and Dragos Titea, State Secretary of the Ministry of Transport.

The Romanian party planned to introduce a 150-euro fee for Ro-Ro moorage at Port Becket. Maritime branch organizations signaled on the case a few days ago at a meeting with the Transport minister. According to data provide by the business, following the commissioning of the New Europe Bridge at Vidin – Kalafat, the traffic through the ferry line Oryahovo – Becket has dropped significantly and the introduction of such a fee would result in the ferry’s bankruptcy as the service will become more expensive. As the issue was of great importance Minister Angelkova took the commitment to resolve it in due time and requested an urgent meeting with her Romanian counterparts. Thus, no additional 150-euro fee will be introduced.

During her meetings Minister Nikolina Angelkova discussed the joint Bulgarian-Romanian project for the improvement of navigation the river Danube. The application form under Connecting Europe Facility is in its final stage of preparation. Currently the Romanian party is working on the necessary documentation and 85 million euros are to be directed towards managing the critical sections in the Bulgarian part of the river. The improvement of navigation on the Danube River is important not only for the two countries, but also for the development of inner waterways of the EU. Due to its cross-border significance and effect on one of the most eco-friendly modes of transport, it complies with all of the CEF requirements and stands a real chance to be granted financing from the total of 406 million euros that will be allocated to projects in the transport sector.

The intensification of the cooperation between the two parties when applying for financing was the main focus of the meeting of Minister Angelkova with the EU Funds Minister Teodorovichi. The coordinated activities between Bulgaria and Romania are very important especially when applying under CEF in the transport sector. The parties agreed to support each other before the European Commission when filing draft proposals and to work together when pinpointing priority routes.

During the meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister Dragnea, Minister Nikolina Angelkova negotiated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for the construction of two new bridges on the river Danube at Silistra – Kalarash and Nikopol – Turnu Magurele. The implementation of the two projects could be financed with public-private partnerships.