News

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.

Within the framework of the International Transport Forum in Leipzig, Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Anna Natova held meetings with Uzbekistan's Transport Minister Ilham Makhmatov and Czech Transport Minister Martin Kupka.

Deputy Minister Anna Natova agreed with Minister Makhmatov to hold a joint committee on air transport in Uzbekistan in June. The aim is to discuss opportunities for developing sustainable multimodal transport connectivity between Asia and Europe, as well as creating a platform for cooperation between logistics companies from both countries. 

The first 19 modernized passenger cars that BDZ bought from the German company Deutsche Bahn arrived in Bulgaria today. They are expected to be operational on the country's rail network by mid-June.

The tenders submitted in the tendering procedure without prior announcement for the supply of 35 electric multiple units to be purchased with Recovery and Sustainability Plan funds were opened today.

A total of four bidders have submitted documents in the tender, the deadline for which expired yesterday. These are PESA, Alstom, Škoda and Stadler Polska. The appointed committee is to examine the bids and negotiate with the companies within a short period of time.

Carrying out joint checks using the method of comprehensive roadside checks is one of the most effective ways of preventing drivers from carrying passengers and goods. This was stated by Borislav Muerov, the Executive Director of the Automobile Administration Agency, during today’s action, which is taking place in the area of the road junction ‘Zherkovo’ on Hemus Motorway. He pointed out that this approach is applied in many EU countries and has a positive effect on road safety.

Experts from the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NKZI) and trade unions have started work on finalising the texts of the Collective Labour Agreement for workers in the state enterprise. It is expected to be signed next week once all the parameters have been agreed by both sides. This became clear after a meeting of the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov with the Board of Directors of the National Railway Company and representatives of the trade unions.

The helicopter will reach the Zheleznitsa tunnel from Sofia in 30 minutes

The Civil Aviation Authority has registered the eighth heliport for the country's air ambulance service. It is located next to the Zheleznitsa tunnel of Struma Motorway.

Nearly BGN 3 billion have been invested in infrastructure projects under the Operational Programme on Transport and Transport Infrastructure 2014—2020. This was announced by the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov at the final information event on the achievements of the transport programme. The Minister stressed that thanks to the European co-financing Bulgaria has been implementing projects for 18 years, which put the country on the map of Europe in a new way.

The criteria for the procedure for the construction of charging stations for cars and trucks on the TEN-T network are ready. This was stated in Burgas by the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov at a meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Transport Connectivity Programme. Methodology and criteria for the procedure, which is planned to be announced in November 2024, are to be approved during the meeting.

Since Bulgaria's accession to the European Union, 373 km of railway lines have been modernised, as well as 8 key railway stations in the country. This was said by Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Anna Natova during a meeting with Serbian media representatives, which took place today in the building of the Ministry of Transport and Communications. She pointed out that the benefits of Bulgaria's accession to the EU are indisputable and visible for all citizens and businesses.

Within the day, a plan for the reorganisation of the movement of trains travelling through Sofia and Sofia-North stations should be made. This was ordered by the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov during a meeting today with BDZ and NKZI in connection with the long delays of trains in Sofia in recent days.

We are already seeing hydrogen technology entering real life. I hope that charging stations for hydrogen cars will soon be built in Bulgaria. This was said by the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Dimitar Nedyalkov during the opening of the first hydrogen charging station in Bulgaria and the region.

Bulgaria and Georgia will now recognise each other's certificates for coastal navigation after an agreement was signed today in Sofia between the Executive Agency ‘Maritime Administration’ and the Maritime Transport Agency of Georgia. This took place in the framework of a visit of a Georgian delegation led by Guram Guramishvili, Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development.