Public Relations and Protocol

The Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov and the Minister of Interior Kalin Stoyanov held an urgent meeting with the Bulgarian Ambassador in Bucharest H.E. Radko Vlaykov to discuss the situation with the crossing of the border checkpoints Vidin—Calafat and Ruse—Giurgiu and to identify measures to solve the problem.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works will work together to solve the problems in the transport sector. The development of the sector is among the priorities in the management of Ministers Georgi Gvozdeykov and Andrey Tsekov. The two have already held several meetings on the subject.

Early next week, they will hold talks with representatives of the freight and bus industries to discuss the top priority tasks they will work on together in the medium term.

Orders are expected to be launched again in a month

More than EUR 1.5 billion will be invested under the Transport Connectivity Programme 2021—2027, which will finance various modes of environmentally friendly transport in Bulgaria. This is what the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov said in his speech today at the Green Week 2023 Forum: The Green Transition in Central and Eastern European Countries 2023.

Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov met in Sofia with Minister of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure of Kosovo Liburn Aliu. Minister Gvozdeykov pointed out that transport policies and connectivity are at the heart of economic growth and deepening trade relations between the countries in the region. He stressed that Bulgaria will support at the European Union level any initiative for the development of transport connectivity in the region.

The hauliers highlighted the lack of drivers as a major problem facing the sector. They say the business needs 3,000 bus and truck drivers. The issue of shortening the time for obtaining a work permit for drivers from outside the European Union was raised, as well as the creation of a targeted state policy for the training of personnel in Bulgaria.

Today at the Inter Expo Centre in the city of Sofia the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov launched the second edition of the specialized forum for unmanned aviation ‘Inter Drone Expo’. The exhibition is the first in the region that gives everyone the opportunity to learn about unmanned aerial systems. The Minister of Innovation and Growth Milena Stoycheva also took part in the event.

Today was the first meeting of Minister Georgi Gvozdeykov with representatives of the taxi industry and trade unions in the sector. 

The industry's top priority is the request to maintain the level of relief in the annual tax for taxi drivers, which for 2022 was reduced, for example in Sofia the reduction was from BGN 850 to BGN 300.

So far, the state has covered the difference by compensating municipalities for the reduction, but these funds were not provided for in the budget of the caretaker government.

100% of the Bulgarian projects applied under the Digital Europe Programme have been approved for funding. The Ministry of Transport and Communications provides administrative and organisational support to organisations in submitting proposals.

Representatives of the European Commission visited several infrastructure sites in the Burgas area within the second regular meeting of the Transport Connectivity Programme Monitoring Committee. The event took place from 7 to 9 June 2023 in Burgas. 

The introduction of green transport will be among my top priorities, said the new Minister of Transport and Communications Eng. Georgi Gvozdeykov at the ceremony of acceptance of the management by the former head of the institution Hristo Alexiev. The work on the recovery plan for Bulgarian Posts and the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan projects are the other important tasks for the new team. Georgi Gvozdeykov stressed that it is important to quickly resolve the issues with the contested orders for the supply of new rolling stock for the railway transport.

The strategic location of Bulgaria for the development of transport, energy and digital connections was discussed by the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policies Hristo Alexiev and the Ambassador of the United States of America Kenneth Merten at a meeting today in the building of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

The connectivity of the Balkans is important in order to meet the new challenges of the military conflict in Ukraine, the countries of the region can give solutions that are also applicable to Western Europe. This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Hristo Alexiev during the Delphi Economic Forum, which is being held in Greece.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Hristo Alexiev signed the documentation for awarding public contracts for the supply of new rolling stock.

The investment is financed with European funds under the Recovery and Resilience Plan and with budget funds. Until the present moment, public procurements for rolling stock of a similar scale have not been prepared in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria and Georgia will develop the potential of the Black Sea as an alternative to land transport corridors between Asia and Europe and to digital connectivity networks. This was stated at a meeting today by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Hristo Alexiev and the new Ambassador of Georgia to our country Otar Berdzenishvili.

Intermodal terminals should be a priority for all countries in the European Union and for the countries yet to join it. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Krasimir Papukchiyski during a meeting with the Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of North Macedonia Blagoj Bochvarski.

The full use of the potential of the Black Sea and the Bulgarian ports is extremely important for the transportation of goods from Asia to Europe. This was the general opinion during a video conferencing between the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Hristo Alexiev and the Minister of Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade of Finland Ville Skinnari.

About BGN 130 million are expected in the budget from the mobile operators for the use of the 700 MHz and 800 MHz frequencies. This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications, Hristo Alexiev, after the adopted changes by the Council of Ministers to the Tariff for the fees collected by the Communications Regulation Commission under the Electronic Communications Act. "We have successfully finished releasing the frequencies and start using them for civil needs.

Investments at Sofia Airport will be accelerated. This became clear after a meeting of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Hristo Alexiev with the Chief Executive Officer of the Meridiam Fund and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of "SOF Connect" Thierry Déau and the Ambassador of France Joel Meyer.

Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Krasimir Papukchiyski and Turkish Ambassador Aylin Sekizkök sent the second freight train with 36 prefabricated houses for the severely affected by the earthquake in Turkey.

The train departed at 5:00 p.m. from the Central Railway Station in Sofia. The transportation is provided on two courses along the Kurilo - Svilengrad East Border - Kapukule - Halkali Station - Svilengrad, and the carrier is BDZ Freight Transport EOOD. The first composition that delivered the first 12 wagons with 36 houses left to Turkey on March 7, 2023.