News

We have successfully finalised the negotiations and have now selected a contractor for the delivery of 35 electric multiple unit trains. This was announced by the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov during the Green Transition Forum 4.0. The rolling stock will be purchased with Recovery and Sustainability Plan funds. The Polish company Stadler Polska Sp. z o.o. was chosen as the contractor. The proposed price is BGN 642.5 million and the delivery period is 28 months. 

Starting this week BDZ will increase trains between Sofia and Burgas. This became clear during a meeting between the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov and the management of BDZ Holding EAD and BDZ-Passenger Transport EOOD. The minister demanded a full investigation of all circumstances related to the train from Sofia to Burgas on Friday night. ‘It is absurd for passengers to travel in this way when they have bought a ticket and someone has not done their job’, he added.

The new rolling stock fully meets our expectations. From now on, we can offer people on these trains many times more comfort. This is what the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov said in Burgas on disembarking from the first train with the modernized rolling stock. The Transport Minister was one of the passengers who travelled the distance from Sofia to Burgas with the new carriages. With him in the train were Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Biser Minchev and the Manager of BDZ-Passenger Transport Ventsislav Slavkov.

The second batch of 19 more wagons will be in Bulgaria within days

In a very short period, we were able to start the renewal of rolling stock in rail transport. This was stated by the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov during the presentation of the first composition of the modernized wagons, which were bought from Germany.

Investment in railways is extremely important to meet the requirements of Europe’s Green Deal — reducing emissions and fuel consumption and increasing energy efficiency. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Biser Minchev during a conference on ‘The Need for a National Plan for a Fair Transition’. The event, organized by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, was attended by representatives of the central and local government, industry organizations and others.

Hydrogen electric transport can have accelerated development with strong institutional support. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Dimitar Nedyalkov at a round table organized by the Bulgarian Association for Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Energy Storage. The Ministry of Transport and Communications hosted the event, which is part of the Hydrogen Electromobility Days programme. 

Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov participates in the meeting of the Council of the European Union on Transport, Telecommunications and Energy, format "Transport", held in  Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Министерството на транспорта и съобщенията подкрепя развитието и внедряването на водородните технологии в транспортния сектор. Това заяви заместник-министърът на транспорта и съобщенията Димитър Недялков по време на официалното откриване в София на Дните на водородната електромобилност.

The deadline for connecting the devices at all technical inspection points to the information system of the Road Administration Agency is 22 July 2024. From then on, the data from the technical measuring devices will be automatically transmitted electronically to the EAAA. After that date, the operation of all points that have not met the conditions will be suspended.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications has published for public consultation amendments to Ordinance No. 37 and Ordinance No. 38 regulating the conditions and procedures for the training and examination of candidates for the acquisition of driving licence. The regulations are published on the Public Consultation Portal of the Council of Ministers - https://strategy.bg/

Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov, Minister of Interior Kalin Stoyanov, Minister of e-Government Valentin Mundrov and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Svetlan Stoev met today with representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The delegation is visiting Bulgaria to observe the forthcoming elections to the National Assembly and the European Parliament.

The Director of the Civil Aviation Administration, Anelia Marinova, is the first Bulgarian representative to join the leadership of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

The institution ensures the safety and environmental protection of the civil aviation sector in Europe. One of its goals is to make the transition to greener aviation. The Board is responsible for setting the agency's priorities, setting the budget, overseeing licensing and preparing amendments to the regulatory framework. 

On the order of the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov, an inspection of the organization of the activities in the National Railway Infrastructure started today. The scope of the audit includes the company's financial management and controls, safety management systems, and occupational health and safety procedures.

The reason for the urgent inspection is the increasing number of incidents on the railway network, the latest of which was yesterday evening.

Bulgaria Heli Med Services successfully carried out its first patient transport mission with the medical helicopter. After a signal from the Emergency Medical Center for air transport of a patient from Shumen to Sofia, the helicopter with a crew of two pilots — Valeri Shopov and Yulian Bogoev, took off at 8.02 am from Sofia and arrived in Shumen at 9.42 am, with an intermediate landing in Gorna Oryahovitsa for refuelling.

We need to provide a ‘fast track’ and change the slow administrative procedures that stop almost all major infrastructure projects in transport. This was stated by the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov at the Connectivity Forum 2024, which is held in Burgas.

In his words, Bulgaria is not further behind than other European countries in terms of construction, but there are not a few cases in which because of the completion of documents and permits there is a delay of several years, which is unacceptable, explained Gvozdeykov.

The launch of high-speed trains between Sofia and Istanbul is a priority that will be realised with the progress in the modernisation of the railway infrastructure in Bulgaria and Turkey. This was the common opinion at a meeting of the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov and the new Ambassador of Turkey to Bulgaria H. E. Mr Mehmet Sait Uyanik Minister Gvozdeykov pointed out that the Plovdiv—Edirne railway route will be able to start first, as the modernization in the Bulgarian section is the most advanced.

Candidate drivers will sit theory and practice tests no more than four times in six months, after which they will undergo further training. These are some of the measures that Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov presented during a discussion on road safety, which took place today at the National Press Club of the BTA in Sofia. The forum is part of the campaign ‘Drive smart — get alive!’ of the media platform ‘24 hours’.

The deepening of the port of Burgas will open the doors to receive some of the largest ships and increase its capacity and attractiveness. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Anna Natova during the presentation of the activities of the project for capital dredging between the port terminals in Burgas.

Actions have been taken to alleviate the heavy traffic through Danube Bridge 2. At the moment there are no trucks waiting on the route of the republican road network to the BCP Vidin-Calafat. All counters at the border crossing are fully operational. The time for checking trucks has been reduced as much as possible so that it does not violate the rules for the protection of national security and border control.

The Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov and the Minister of Transport of Kazakhstan Marat Karabaev held an online meeting to discuss the development of transport links between the two countries. Deputy Ministers of Transport and Communications Anna Natova and Dimitar Nedyalkov also took part in the meeting.