Public Relations and Protocol

Bulgaria ranks second in the European Union by a share of the municipalities covered by the free wireless internet in public places (WiFi4EU). Forty-three percent of the Bulgarian municipalities have won vouchers to build high-speed access to the World Wide Web in the first competition held in November 2018. Two hundred and fifteen Bulgarian municipalities have applied, with 113 of them receiving funding amounting to BGN 1 695 000. The first place in the competition is held by Ireland, where 105 municipalities have applied and funding has been 59.

Iran has an active partner in the face of Bulgaria for the development of the Multimodal Corridor Black Sea-Persian Gulf. This was announced by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Rosen Zhelyazkov, during a working meeting with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran Dr. Seyed Abbas Aragichi.

"Both countries have traditionally good relations in land transport, which are based on the geostrategic position of Bulgaria and this potential should be used in the future", Minister Zhelyazkov also pointed out.

My advice to BDZ colleagues is to be open, transparent and to work to the maximum extent with the Transport Committee. This was announced by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rosen Zhelyazkov during the presentation of the new management of Holding BDZ EAD to the relevant parliamentary committee.

The suspension of the concession procedure at Sofia Airport requested by BSP is not provided for in the Concessions Act and there is no legal basis. This was stated by Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov during a briefing, in connection with a request by MPs from the BSP, to stop the concession procedure.  The Minister clarified that the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, not the State, is the concessionaire of the procedure.

Controversial legislative initiatives adopted at the last moment of the work of the European Parliament mean that Europe can not show unity in resolving important issues. This was announced by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rosen Zhelyazkov after his meeting today with European Parliament President Antonio Tajani in Strasbourg. He said that this emergency meeting was organized with the support of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, given the recent end of the mandate of the European Parliament.

The European Parliament's Committee on Transport and Tourism rejected the two reports regulating the ban on resting in the cabin trucks and the posting of drivers in cross-trade operations. This was announced by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Rossen Jeliazkov, following today's vote on the Mobility Package I in Brussels.

Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov expressed his confidence that the proposal for suppressing the texts, which envisages that drivers and vehicles must return to their home countries after every four weeks of driving, would most likely gain the necessary support. This became clear today after the Minister’s meetings in Brussels before tomorrow's vote on Mobility Package I at the Transport Committee in the European Parliament.

Irrespective of political differences, the institutions have to work for the common national interest, said the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov at a meeting with MEPs. The Bulgarian representatives from all groups in the European Parliament declared that will work together, in a coordinated way and with common massages.

“The protest of the hauliers is not a form of pressure, but a demonstration of the firm and explicit message against the division of Europe into central and peripheral countries”, underlined Minister Jeliazkov.

Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov presented the Bulgarian position on the Mobility Package I during a meeting with one of the dossier rapporteurs, Wim van de Camp. The Ministers of Transport of Lithuania, Hungary and Poland also attended the meeting and supported the Bulgarian position. Jeliazkov informed Wim van de Camp for the upcoming protest of the Bulgarian hauliers in front of the European Parliament, which is appointed for tomorrow during the vote on the Package.

Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov met with the Chair of the European People’s Party and a leading candidate for President of the European Commission Manfred Weber. The meeting was also attended by the Bulgarian MEP Andrey Kovatchev.

We should use all means of European bureaucracy to defend national interests during the voting on Mobility Package I in the European Parliament, said the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications following today’s meeting at which were discussed the incoming actions before the review in the Transport Committee in EP on January 10, 2019.

We have created the necessary organization to strengthen the control of road and passenger road transport during Christmas and New Year holidays. This was announced by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov after the headquarters meeting in connection with the winter environment and the expected high passenger traffic.

The Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rosen Zhelyazkov ordered an audit at "Sofia Airport" EAD to check the contracts for the supply of goods at the retail outlets and for the analysis of the receivables worth over BGN 10,000, as well as the actions taken for their collection.

The audit will be performed by the Internal Audit Unit of MTITC and should be completed shortly.

We have prepared legislative proposals on the Mobility Package I, to be submitted by the Bulgarian MEPs to the European Parliament. This was announced by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rosen Jeliazkov after a meeting with representatives of the branch organizations in the road freight transport.

A hundred and thirteen Bulgarian municipalities will be awarded grants by the European Commission for free high-speed WiFi access in public places under the WiFi4EU initiative. A total of 215 representatives of local authorities successfully applied for the competition announced in November. Winners from Bulgaria managed to apply in the first ten seconds following the launch of the competition competing with almost 13 000 participants. The grants were awarded on the first-come-first-served principle.

Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia and Malta voted against the common approach on the legislative proposals in Mobility Package I, which was adopted within the Transport Council of the European Union. In the 15-hour negotiations, Bulgaria expressed its firm stance against the proposed texts.

During the discussions, it was agreed that vehicles should not be made to return home, which was one of the “red lines” for our country.

Next year will be crucial for the implementation of large projects financed under OP Transport and Transport Infrastructure, stated the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Rossen Jeliazkov, at the 10th session of the OP Monitoring committee, 29-30.11.2018 in the town of Pravets.

According to the European Commission 215 Bulgarian municipalities (81% of all 265 local administrations) have successfully applied for the free public wireless internet access initiative - WiFi4EU. Only 16 of the pre-registered 231 Bulgarian municipalities failed because of technical reasons.

Due to the termination of the first WiFi4EU competition in May,  now the budget is doubled – 42 million euros. In December 2018, the European Commission will announce the winners among the municipalities and present the vouchers.

Some 40 % of the oil draining activities at the site of the sunken vessel “Mopang” are completed, announced the Executive Director of ES Maritime Agency, Captain Zhivko Petrov, before media representatives on the termination of the work for the season. He further announced that activities will be resumed in springtime favourable weather conditions are.

Captain Petrov presented the results achieved by now, noting that repayments amount to    687 405 leva, the invoiced ones amount to 1 098 000 leva, that is 40% of the allocated budget of 2,5 million leva.