News

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine is already having a serious impact on all sectors of the economy, including the transport industry. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Vladimir Varbanov during a ministerial video conference on the Consequences of Russian aggression against Ukraine in terms of infrastructure investment. The event was attended by Ministers and Deputy Ministers from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia.

Starting from April 25, the run of the international train between Sofia and Istanbul will resume. This became clear after the management of BDZ and the Turkish Railways (TCDD) agreed to run the train again before the start of the summer season.

The international train from Istanbul will depart at 22.00 on April 25, and arrive at Sofia Central Station at 09.35. In the opposite direction from Sofia to Istanbul the train will depart according to schedule at 18.30 on April 26, and will reach its final destination Istanbul in 07.00.

We are taking action to tackle the gray sector and unregulated road transport. Each received signal will be worked on jointly with the National Revenue Agency. This was announced by the Minister of Transport and Communications Nikolay Sabev during a discussion on the vision for the development of public transport 2022 - 2027.

Next week, an expert council will start working, the first step of which is to synchronize the schedules between all modes of transport. The council will also address the short-term problems of carriers.

Smart cities can attract funding for projects under the Digital Europe Programme and the Connecting Europe Facility 2021-2027. The Ministry of Transport and Communications supports Bulgarian organisations and companies in applying for two mechanisms. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Dilyan Berkovski at the conference "Digital Sofia – The Smart City". He informed that currently there is a possibility to apply in 28 competitions on different topics, and new opportunities will open in September.

Plamen Stanchev takes over the management of Sofia Airport EAD by Order of the Minister of Transport and Communications Nikolay Sabev.

The current Executive Director of Sofia Airport EAD, Krassimir Peshev, has been appointed a member of the Board of Directors of Plovdiv Airport EAD together with Doychin Angelov, pending a competition procedure.

Plamen Spasov and Petar Georgiev are released from the management of Plovdiv Airport EAD without being released from responsibility.

The Minister of Transport and Communications Nikolay Sabev released the executive director of "Transport Construction and Restoration" Bozhidar Dzhelebov, and with this act he is not released from responsibility.

Ivo Yanakiev has been appointed a member of the Board of Directors of the company until a competition procedure is held.

The decision is in connection with the company's activities regarding the contract for the deepening of the Port of Varna, which is subject to checks by the Ministry of Interior and the Prosecutor's Office.

Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Vladimir Varbanov called for a temporary suspension of the provisions of the Mobility Package I on the return of trucks until the end of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. This happened during today's informal video conference of the European Union's Transport Ministers.

The Deputy Minister pointed out that the war in Ukraine would have a long-term negative impact on the state of the economy and the functioning of the transport sector in the European Union.

"Results are obtained when working with the energy of the whole society and there is sensitivity to any interest", the Minister of Transport and Communications Nikolay Sabev said after the second meeting to discuss the Master Plan of the Port of Burgas East 1.

An agreement on the project was reached by all stakeholders.

The representatives of the legislative, executive and local authorities discussed all the proposals made and were unanimous that they are in the interest of the future development of the Port, as well as the city and the State.

Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Bozhidar Kostadinov met with representatives of the Polish railway industry. During the discussion, the possibilities for cooperation between Bulgaria and Poland were discussed.

Deputy Minister Kostadinov said that the exchange of experience is a useful move for sustainable development. "The Ministry of Transport and Communications ensures maximum transparency in the event of international investor interest, which in turn leads to a quality result", he added.

The team that prepared the Digital Connectivity part of the Recovery and Sustainability Plan today explained the goals and financial parameters of the executive directors of A1, Vivacom and Yettel.

"Plovdiv Railway Junction is one of the most important railway sites in Bulgaria, of great regional, economic and strategic significance. With the modernization of infrastructure and new rolling stock we will achieve the strategic goal - Bulgaria on track. This is our goal, which we would like to develop and achieve, namely the society to benefit from modern, fast and comfortable railway transport", the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Bozhidar Kostadinov said during the first-sod-turning ceremony of a project for the development of Plovdiv Railway Junction.

War in Ukraine increases the need to create an International Transport Corridor Persian Gulf - Black Sea. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Stoyan Novakov at the opening of the 6th Expert Meeting on the Multilateral Agreement on the Transport Corridor.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications sent letters to the mayors of Ruse and Burgas, asking them to take action to transfer ownership of Ruse Airport and Ravnets Airport to the structure of the Ministry.

This is part of a targeted policy to restore the operation of small regional airports.

Minister Sabev proposes that airports become state-owned within the meaning of Art. 43 b of the Civil Aviation Act. This will allow them to be managed by an airport operator with 100% State participation, and without the need for changes in the laws.

The Minister of Transport and Communications will present the vision for the development of public transport in the period 2022-2027. Minister Sabev is the patron of a forum dedicated to the sustainable development of public passenger transport.

Sabev will talk about the integration of modes of transport, ensuring transport connectivity and awarding transport through concessions. Public-private partnership is a focus of the Ministry's Policy in the current term.

The Civil Aviation Administration hosts a seminar on cybersecurity. The event is organized in the period 5-7 April 2022 together with EUROCONTROL under Support to States (STS) Policy.

Today, at a meeting between the Minister of Transport and Communications Nikolay Sabev and the Chief Executive Officer of Meridiam Thierry Déau, it was agreed that the Investment Plan for the first five years will increase from the initially planned 43 million euros to 72 million.

The initiative belongs entirely to Minister Nikolay Sabev, and the agreement was reached after a series of meetings between the two sides.

Meridiam Investment Fund is the owner of the concessionaire of Sofia Airport SOF Connect.

Twice as many train tickets have been purchased through the BDZ website since the beginning of the year. In March, more than 8,700 tickets were reserved and paid for through the website, and more than 24,000 visitors were recorded. In the first days of the mandate, the Minister of Transport and Communications Nikolay Sabev assigned BDZ - Passenger Transport EOOD, together with Information Services AD to improve the system for electronic ticketing.

Bulgaria will build a national infrastructure and supply, installation and personalization of a graphical user interface for Integrated Maritime Surveillance, allowing cross-border and transectoral exchange of information within Bulgaria and the European Union, based on the CISE data model.

The platform of a national CISE Node will be built under the project "Implementation of Integrated Bulgarian Maritime Surveillance (InBulMarS), based on a Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE) for monitoring the EU maritime territory - with the acronym InBulMarS 2 ”.

The number of registered electric cars in Bulgaria should reach nearly 30,000 by 2026. This is what the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Vladimir Varbanov stated in Ruse during a Round Table on energy efficiency in transport and prospects for the use of low-carbon energy in the Danube region. He pointed out that currently there are less than 10,000 registered electric cars.

We want to preserve and restore the building of Nova Zagora Railway Station. This is what the Minister of Transport and Communications Nikolay Sabev said within a public discussion upon his initiative on the project for modernization of the Station.