Public Councils supported Minister Papazov on the proposed projects under Operational Programme "Transport"
01.10.2013
The Public Councils supported the proposed projects for the next programming period of Operational Programme "Transport". This became clear during the briefing of the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Danail Papazov after the meetings. The priority projects within the transport sector were presented to the public last week, and the discussion with the industry and other NGOs continues today.
"There have been regulatory changes made which extend the term of the certificates on the lifespan of ports," said Minister Papazov. According to him a new draft Regulation on the service lifespan of ports and specialized port facilities has been made, which provides the validity of lifespan certificates to be significantly increased - for port terminals, which are under concession, it is bound to its duration, and for ports where port services are provided by the owner, the validity will be 35 years. This would improve conditions for investors who have interest not only in port activities, but also in areas such as shipbuilding.
The Council on Air Transport considered the proposals to collect fees from Sofia airport. Minister Papazov also announced that the regulation of light aviation is now ready.
During the Council on Road Transport the new Executive Director of Executive Agency "Automobile Administration" Dimitar Ganev was presented. "We discussed the problems of the Bulgarian carriers at the Turkish border and the taxi industry proposals for the introduction of license tax," added Danail Papazov. According to him, before any action can be taken on these issues there will be further meetings with the industry, in order to choose the best solution.
The main topic of the Public Council on Railways was the amendments to the Law on Amending and Supplementing the Law on Railway Transport, a consensus has been achieved on the majority of the issues.
Minister Papazov underlined, that according to a study from 2011, about 19% of all inhabitants in Bulgaria are prone to watching analog TV, and in 2012 this percentage decreased to 14.5%. "By the end of the week we will have an accurate list of all areas that the digital signal does not cover," said Minister Papazov. According to him, about it is not a question of a million subscribers, as discussed in the media. "Once the exact figure of households which remain without access to television is clear, the state will discuss measures to resolve the issue," he added.
Minister Danail Papazov chaired for the fourth time the meetings of the Public Councils in the areas of rail, road, maritime and air transport, as well as information technology, communications and e-government. |