Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications

The Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications of Bulgaria, Nikolina Angelkova, and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development and Public Administration of Romania, Liviu Dragnea, signed a Memorandum of Understanding for exploration and construction of two new bridge facilities over the Danube River. Today’s ceremony in Bucharest was attended by the Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta.

By the end of next week the composition of the joint Bulgarian-Romanian working group will be determined and it will start working on the preparation of the two projects for the construction of the bridges at Nikopol – Turnu Magurele and Silistra – Calarasi. “The main task of the working group is to pinpoint specific steps and deadlines in the preparation of construction works”, said Minister Angelkova.

“The Memorandum will lay the grounds not only of this joint project, but will also create conditions for the improvement of the economic climate in the North of Bulgaria”, added Minister Angelkova. In her view the bridges at Nikopol – Turnu Magurele and Silistra – Calarasi will improve the connection between the North of Bulgaria and the South of Romania and will attract investment in the region. Deputy Prime Minister Dragnea added that these infrastructure sites shall secure a better future to people by providing greater opportunities for business and entrepreneurship.

According to Nikolina Angelkova the pace at which the MoU was drafted and signed shows the will and commitment of the Bulgarian and Romanian governments to speed up the construction of the two bridges. “We can rely on the support of the local authorities in Bulgaria and Romania, and the presence of Prime Minister Victor Ponta at today’s ceremony is a clear sign of strengthening the cooperation between the two countries not only for the implementation of these two projects but also for all other mutual projects”, added the Bulgarian Minister.

The preliminary preparation included the feasibility studies, EIA, as well as an analysis of the potential benefits of each of the sites. Financing of these activities is to be allocated through the Cross-border Cooperation Program (CCP) – Bulgaria-Romania, 2014-2020. After finalizing the preparation financial sources will be sought for the actual construction, yet they are highly probable to be financed under public-private partnership.

During her one-day visit Minister Angelkova also met with Ioan Rus, Minister of Transport of Romania. They agreed on a swift meeting of the working group for the preparation of the project for the two bridges over the Danube. “The Memorandum sets the beginning of specific actions towards their realization and we should do our best to speed up the process”, said the Bulgarian Transport Minister. Nikolina Angelkova and her Romanian counterpart shared the view that the two countries shall closely cooperate and coordinate their actions to prepare infrastructure transport projects under Connecting Europe Facility.

Later in the day Minister Angelkova met with the Romanian Euro funds Minister Eugen Teodorovich to discuss the cooperation in the preparation and implementation of projects on the territory of the two countries that are financed by the EU.