Transport

Bulgaria and Serbia will work together to guarantee their energy resources in view of the upcoming cold season. This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policies and Minister of Transport and Communications, Hristo Alexiev, after speaking with the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of Serbia, Tomislav Momirovich.

"BDZ- Freight Transport" EOOD initiates talks with the World Bank for the implementation of its investment program for the period until 2024. The company will negotiate for attracting up to 400 million BGN capital. The funds are needed for the acquisition of 5 new electric and 15 diesel locomotives, as well as 600 specialized freight cars. Investments in rolling stock and railway infrastructure are a top priority of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

The program envisages major repairs of 10 units of locomotives and 250 units of freight cars.

Funding opportunities in upcoming competitions under the Connecting Europe Facility and Digital Europe Program were presented today at the Euro Techno Info Day. The Ministry of Transport and Communications announced the topics and application requirements in advance to give companies and organizations time to prepare successfully.

This is the largest procedure launched under the Recovery and Resilience Plan. The deadline for receipt of proposals from all interested parties is 30 June 2022. The total number of proposals received across all 5 calls is 32.

I am convinced that people involved in road traffic must go through such training and exams, go through a needle's eye to acquire skills with which to avoid dramatic situations on the road. This was stated by the Minister of Transport and Communications Nikolay Sabev at a meeting with representatives of unions and associations of teachers in driving schools. Deputy Minister Nikolay Naydenov and Deputy Chairman of the State Agency for Road Safety Dimitar Iliev also took part in the discussion at the initiative of the Road Transport Administration Executive Agency.

Under the auspices of the Minister of Transport and Communications Nikolay Sabev is the celebration in Ruse of the 15th Anniversary of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union. The event will be celebrated on Europe Day, 9 May.

The initiative is a joint one with the Elias Canetti International Society and Ruse Regional Administration.

Minister Sabev will host a panoramic boat trip on the Danube River, which will include representatives of the diplomatic corps in Bulgaria, as well as local authorities from Bulgaria and Romania.

Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Vladimir Varbanov held a meeting today with representatives of the aviation industry. During the talks, a general opinion was expressed that timely and fair support from the State is needed to this very important sector of our economy.

On March 18, 2022, the European Commission approved the scheme to support Bulgarian air carriers.

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 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.

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.

In the current year we are opening a new border crossing at Zlatograd-Thermes. This was stated by the Minister of Transport and Communications Nikolay Sabev after meeting today with the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport of Greece Konstantinos Karamanlis.

The Bulgarian side is committed to taking action to speed up the passage through the Makaza-Nymphea checkpoint by installing scales for trucks. The aim is to alleviate traffic at the Kulata-Promahon border checkpoint. Next year, a checkpoint near Rudozem and Xanthi will be opened, the Bulgarian Minister of Transport added.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications will assist as soon as possible in opening an air line between Sofia and Skopje in case of interest from an airline to operate the flights. This assurance was received by representatives of the airlines at a meeting today at the Ministry. From a legal point of view, there is no obstacle to the start of passenger transport by air, because there is an indefinite Memorandum for cooperation between the Aviation Administrations of the two countries, which was signed in 2015.

The concessionaire of Sofia Airport will accelerate investments in 2022. This was agreed today by the Minister of Transport and Communications Nikolay Sabev and the Executive Director of SOF Connect, Mr. Jesus Caballero. The Minister insisted on re-planning an investment program and moving some of the financial commitments set out in the concession agreement to an earlier stage.

Detailed analysis of all possibilities is necessary and the most practical option for solving the problems with crossing the Danube Bridge near Ruse has to be chosen. This is what the Minister of Transport and Communications Nikolay Sabev stated today in the framework of his visit to the Danube Bridge border checkpoint to assess on the spot the ideas for improvements in transport connectivity proposed in the framework of yesterday's public discussion in the Danube city. According to him, the key to turning Ruse into a European transport hub is dealing with traffic on the Danube Bridge.

We will develop transport as a highly efficient system that includes all modes of transportation. This is what the Minister of Transport and Communications Nikolay Sabev stated during a public discussion on the resumption of flights from Ruse Airport and optimization of the crossing of the Danube Bridge.

For the last 30 years there has been an increase in harmful emissions by 52 percent, the main reason being road transport. This is what the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Alexander Pulev stated in the framework of a discussion panel "Plan for Sustainability, Energy and the European Green Deal" within the Webit Forum in Sofia Tech Park.

Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Christina Velinova headed the Bulgarian delegation to a High-Level Conference organized by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The forum dedicated to the recovery of the aviation sector came to an end today with the adoption of the Ministerial Declaration.

The Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Hristo Alexiev assumed the Chairmanship of the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA for the next mandate. The Bulgarian Minister participated in the 15th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission for Development of the International Transport Corridor Europe-the Caucasus-Asia.

It is important that the cargo of the ship Vera Su stranded near the area of Yailata be safely unloaded, the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Hristo Alexiev said at a briefing of the National Crisis Group. Prior to that, the General Director of Emergency and Rescue Activity DG in the Maritime Administration - Varna Rumen Nikolov informed that the vessel was stabilized and was in a horizontal position.