News

The European Commission approved Bulgaria's requests for temporary exceptions (derogation) to the rules in international road transport. This was announced during today's videoconference of transport ministers of the European Union on the impact of COVID-19 on the transport sector.

On May 4, 2020, the theory parts of the driving tests for driving licence candidates are resumed, and on May 11, 2020, the practical parts of the driving tests. This was announced after today's meeting of the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Rossen Jeliazkov and representatives of the teachers in auto-motor training. The talks were also attended by Deputy Minister Angel Popov and the Executive Director of the Road Transport Administration EA Boyko Ranovski.

The transport sector is in urgent need of European financial instruments to ensure the speedy recovery of companies affected by the COVID-19 measures. This is stated in a letter sent by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov to the European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean. The Minister further points out that the aid provided by the Member States is not sufficient and that the support of the European Commission is needed to safeguard the viability of the sector.

The Council of Ministers has defined the border crossing points on Bulgarian territory at which vehicles transporting goods will be allowed to pass freely. The plan for securing Green Corridors along the European road network was proposed by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov. It complies with the guidelines of the European Commission as of 16 March 2020.

DMS SOLIDARNOST to short number 17777

The Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov presented the Bulgarian position during today's video conference of the Council of the EU Transport Ministers on the impact of COVID-19 over the sector. According to his words, in the field of Road Transport, Bulgaria fully supports the harmonized approach and the guidelines for management of the border control, presented by the Commission.

The EU Transport Ministers will discuss tomorrow measures for ensurance of the free movement of goods in the EU. This was announced by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Rossen Jeliazkov during an emergency briefing. 

The first convoy of Bulgarian trucks left from Nova Gorica, Slovenia to Bulgaria. This was announced by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Mr. Rossen Jeliazkov at an emergency briefing. The trucks have to cross a Trans-European Corridor, passing through several countries from Italy to Bulgaria.

The Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov presented the measures taken in the transport sector in connection with the state of emergency.

Road transport

Road Transport Agency’s inspectors immobilised a Turkish truck due to manipulation of the digital tachograph.

During a routine truck inspection, Road Transport Agency’s inspectors have found that the distance travelled, recorded in the vehicle's digital tachograph does not correspond to the actual kilometres. Evidence of manipulation of the device chip were found upon further inspection of the digital tachograph at an authorized service. A report has been drawn up for the violation and the vehicle is immobilised until the replacement of the digital tachograph by an authorized one.

The thirty-sixth Bulgarian municipalities that have not participated in the WiFi4EU initiative so far can apply for a new competition. It will be launch on March 17, 2020 at 2 pm Bulgarian time, as the local authorities have to register on the WiFi4EU portal beforehand.

With a budget of EUR 14.2 million, the European Commission will distribute 947 vouchers on the “first-applicant-first-funded” bases, following the geographical balance. There will be no maximum number of vouchers for each participating country for this fourth competition.

One hundred and fifty years since the issue of the Sultan's Firman for the recognition of the independent Bulgarian Church, under the name Bulgarian Exarchy, has been commemorated with the validation of a postage stamp. The seal of validation was affixed by the Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Andreana Atanasova and the Secretary General of the Holy Synod, Bishop Gerasim.

Bulgaria is hosting for the fourth time the Regional Cybersecurity Forum for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, organized by the International Telecommunications Union.

This is a  recognition of our country's role both in the activities of the international institution and in regional cybersecurity, said Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Andreana Atanasova at the opening of the event.

At an order by the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, 20 students and 4 of their teachers, currently based in Italy, will be transported by the Government Airbus, in accordance with the instructions of the National Operational Headquarters regarding the spread of the novel COVID-19 coronavirus.

The necessary flight organization has been set up, providing the most direct and fastest route of the aircraft by the Air Traffic Services Authorities. The Government Airbus is scheduled to depart from Sofia at 10:00 pm and is scheduled to land at Milan Linate Airport at 10:40 pm (local time).

The Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov and the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport of the Hellenic Republic Kostas Karamanlis agreed to accelerate the process of construction of the multimodal corridor of “Thessaloniki-Kavala-Alexandroupolis-Burgas-Varna-Rousse”. This happened during a working meeting between the two ministers, within the framework of the Fourth session of the High Level Cooperation Council between the Governments of Bulgaria and Greece.

Three more Member States stand against the controversial texts in the Mobility Package I. This was stated by Rossen Jeliazkov, Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, after his meetings today in Brussels with Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Adina Vălean, European Commissioner for Transport, and the ministers from the group of the like-minded Member States.

The forthcoming amendments to the Electronic Communications Act, which introduce the rules of the European Code for Electronic Communications in the national legislation, have been presented to the telecommunications operators.

The proposed texts encourage enterprises to invest in new infrastructure for the deployment of very high capacity networks (download speeds of at least 100 Mbps), including in more remote areas. The changes are aimed at providing regulatory predictability for the provision of radio spectrum for wireless broadband.

Sixth generation mobile networks can  be expected to be developed in 10 years. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Andreana Atanasova, who, as Vice-Chair of the European Radio Spectrum Policy Group, participated in the 20th European Conference on 5G in Brussels.

Bulgaria withdraws the application form for the construction of the Struma Motorway through the Kresna Gorge, but continues to regard the project as a priority and does not abandon it. The decision does not stop it, but accelerates the team work of all institutions involved in extending the only bottleneck along the border to Greece. Today, the Bulgarian side informed the European Commission of its decision to withdraw the application form for Lot 3.2 funding from the EU Cohesion Fund, which was submitted for approval on 9 August 2019.

We rely on the united industry to partner with the state to create regulatory and public prerequisites for quality training of driver candidates. This was stated by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov during a meeting with representatives of the teachers in the field of auto-moto training. The Minister was adamant that he would continue the work of establishing a good exam organization, which would not allow subjective judgment and corruption opportunities.