A Working group, followed by a Ministerial meeting in September, shall accelerate the activities related to the project on the realization of a railway corridor between the ports of the Aegean Sea – Kavala and Alexandropoulos and the Black Sea ports Bourgas and Varna. It was agreed by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Ivaylo Moskovski and the Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks of Greece Christos Spirtzis. The bilateral meeting took place within the frame of the Third meeting of the Cooperation Council between the governments of the two countries. As a following step is envisaged both Ministers to explore opportunities for funding of the project along the line of the European Union.
The intermodal cargo transport corridor between the Bulgarian ports of Varna and Bourgas and the Greek ports of Kavala and Alexandropoulos is a potential link to port Rousse at the Danube River and shall be an alternative to the transportation of cargo across the Bosphorus. The project provides also for the establishment of two logistic centers in Alexandropoulos and Bourgas.
Both ministers affirmed that the realization of the “Sea2Sea” cargo corridor would give an opportunity to improve transport and economic connections between Bulgaria and Greece.
Minister Moskovski stated as well that the text of an Agreement on railway cross-border traffic between Bulgaria and Greece is ready and is sent to the European Commission for coordination. This Agreement is of particular importance for the two countries and also for Europe as a whole, because it solves problems concerning the thorough construction and integration of the Trans European Transport Network (TEN-T). Once the potential signing and ratification of the Agreement has been completed, the European railway undertakings shall be granted equal conditions for the provision of cross-border services.
The problem of the blockades at the border imposed by Greek farmers and the losses suffered by the Bulgarian business were also a theme of the talks held by both transport ministers.
Minister Moskovski said that such actions are unacceptable, impede seriously the activities of the Bulgarian hauliers and lead to significant financial losses for them. Both ministers shared their view that at the next talks on this theme should be invited representatives of the transport business of the two countries.
