Bulgaria and Romania will jointly award public procurement contracts under the Fast Danube 2 project. This became possible following the signing of an agreement between the Bulgarian Executive Agency "Exploration and Maintenance of the Danube River" and the River Administration of the Lower Danube – Galati (Romania). It took place during a meeting under the project "Improving Navigation Conditions in the Joint Bulgarian–Romanian Section of the Danube River".
"The Fast Danube 2 project will contribute to improved connectivity between the Danube region and the rest of the European Union, and will facilitate the free movement of people and goods," stated Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications, Angel Zaburtov, at the opening of the event.
The project has been approved for funding by the European Commission under the Connecting Europe Facility, with a total value of nearly 230 million euros. Deputy Minister Zaburtov emphasised that the initiative involves large-scale engineering interventions aimed at improving navigation safety in the shared section of the river.
"The investment is of strategic importance not only for Bulgaria and Romania, but also for the entire European family. I am confident that with strong coordination and teamwork we will achieve the objectives we have set," the Bulgarian Deputy Minister pointed out. He summarised that FAST Danube 2 forms part of the wider framework of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and contributes to the optimisation of the Rhine-Danube Corridor. The project is a model of sustainable and long-term cooperation between the two neighbouring countries in the fields of transport infrastructure and regional mobility.
The meeting was attended by Her Excellency Brânduşa Ioana Predescu, Ambassador of Romania to Bulgaria, Ionuţ-Cristian Săvoiu, State Secretary at the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Romania, representatives of the European Commission; and officials from the competent institutions of both Bulgaria and Romania.
