From 2026 all services of the Executive Agency Automobile Administration will become electronic. Drivers and companies will be able to apply for documents or pay the necessary fees via a mobile application.
This became clear at a meeting of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadzhov with representatives of the branch organizations in the field of road transport.
‘This way we will eliminate bureaucracy and unregulated practices that hinder business, he explained.
The Deputy Prime Minister also plans to propose a single body to take control of road safety. ‘At the moment, drivers can be pulled over by representatives of different institutions – some monitor the vignettes, others for overloading, and others for something else. This helps a bunch of administrations and open up opportunities for extortion and corruption. This body should be part of the Ministry of Interior’ thinks Grozdan Karadzhov.
He pointed out that easing the administrative burden will be one of his priorities.
‘Together we will identify concrete measures and solutions so as to achieve a positive effect on business. Every raised issue will be discussed with other institutions so that administrative burdens are reduced and, where possible, procedures are facilitated.’ Grozdan Karadzhov noted.
At the meeting, specific measures to ease freight traffic through the border crossings with Turkey were also discussed. One of the ideas of the transport industry is to launch a Ro-Ro ferry from Burgas to Turkey, which, according to the carriers, would reduce traffic across the Turkish border by about 200-300 trucks per day. ‘You have my full support for this to happen as soon as possible,’ said Karadzhov, who ordered the ministry's international directorate to assist as quickly as possible.
The issue of lack of professional drivers was raised. According to industry organisations, more than 80 per cent of the companies have a shortage of staff and about 15 per cent of the vehicles used for international transportation are not in use due to lack of qualified personnel. As a solution to this problem, the industry pointed out that it is necessary to reduce the period for issuing work permits to drivers from non-EU countries, as well as to create a policy for the training of personnel in Bulgaria.
Topics discussed included the toll system, the introduction of European legislation on the posting of drivers, taking action to tackle unregulated transport, and speeding up regulatory changes in the sector.