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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.

The Expert Public Council on Internet Governance and ICT has resumed its work. "With the first meeting of the Board of Trustees, the relationship between the administration and the participants in the Internet society has been re-established," Andreana Atanasova, Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, said during the meeting. She stressed that this sector requires the efforts of all stakeholders, since the administration cannot make decisions in it without the public will and public opinion.

The Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov held a working meeting with representatives of the taxi industry. The meeting was requested by the industry in connection with business demands in the sector to amend the legal framework for the operation of taxi services, as well as the effective counteraction to unregulated services.

During the talks, the industry united its views on the state of the market and the need to improve the quality of service and working conditions.

The National Assembly adopted some of the laws so important for the Transport, Information Technology and Communications Sectors that allow for better regulation of public relations and better law enforcement. This was stated by Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov during a report on the activities of MTITC before the beginning of the Council of Ministers meeting today.

At the Coreper I meeting held today, the European Commission clearly expressed its disappointment with the provisions laid down in the Mobility Package I, concerning the return of trucks to the countries of establishment, as well as with the other restrictions on combined transport. This was announced by Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov at an emergency briefing.

Due to government actions in 2014 the International Court of Arbitration in Paris condemned Bulgaria to pay an additional BGN 24 483 934 to the constructor of Danube Bridge 2 FCC Construction. This was announced by Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov after today's meeting of the Council of Ministers.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Andreana Atanasova and Chinese Ambassador Dong Xiaojun validated a post stamp for the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and China.

We are working on a new Road Traffic Act that will consolidate all the views and texts discussed so far. This was announced by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov during a roundtable on "Drive smart, get alive", organized by the 24 Hours newspaper.

It is important to me what the position of the “Greens” will be on the Mobility Package I, who, in view of this, support a Package that will not achieve decarbonisation in Europe but will lead to carbonization. This was stated by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications – Rossen Jeliazkov, during a special briefing.

The twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and the Sovereign Order of Malta was marked by the launch of a postage stamp. The seal of validation was affixed by Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Andreana Atanasova and Secretary General for Foreign Policy of the Sovereign Maltese Order Stefano Ronca in the presence of President Rumen Radev and Grand Master Fra Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetlo.

The first postal and philatelic edition dedicated to diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and Japan has been validated today. The lounch seal was put by Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Andreana Atanasova, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs George Georgiev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Bulgaria Masato Watanabe and the Executive Director of Bulgarian Post Deyan Duneshki .