News

By mid-March, an agreement on cooperation shall be prepared, which will regulate joint inspections of small and unconventional vessels by representatives of the Executive Agency Maritime Administration, the Border Police Directorate General and the Ministry of Environment and Water. This was decided by the Committee on Safety of Navigation and Environmental Protection from Ship Pollution. The meeting took place at the Ministry of Transport and Communications and was chaired by Deputy Minister Anna Mihneva-Natova.

The Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov and the Minister of Civil Aviation of Egypt Mohamed Abbas Helmi discussed the signing of a new Air Transport Agreement. Minister Georgi Gvozdeykov and Deputy Minister Anna Mihneva-Natova are part of the delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria Gabriel, which is visiting the Arab country today.

UMBAL Sveta Ekaterina is the second hospital in the capital to have a registered hospital heliport. This is the first medical facility to have a rooftop heliport. The Director General of DG Civil Aviation Administration Anelia Marinova handed over today the registration documents to the Executive Director of the hospital Prof. Dr. Dimitar Petkov.

‘This is just the beginning of the air emergency. I hope it will be successful and in one or two years it will be a standard for us, as it is in other European countries.’ This was stated by Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov at the presentation of the first helicopter for emergency medical assistance by air, which took place at the ‘Border Police’ air base.

Ministers and cabinet members paid their respects at the memorial plaque of the Belene camp

Ministers and members of the Cabinet, representatives of local authorities and the community visited the former Belene camp to pay their respects on today's Day of Appreciation and Tribute to the Victims of the Communist Regime.

The initiative for the honorary act in the concentration camp was taken by the Ministers of Environment and Water Julian Popov, of Justice Atanas Slavov and of Culture Krastyu Krastev.

Bulgaria and Romania prepared a joint project to improve navigation on the Danube. The FAST Danube 2 project, which was submitted today for funding from the Connecting Europe Facility, foresees the implementation of engineering measures in the common section of the river that will improve navigation conditions and traffic safety.

Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Dimitar Nedyalkov met with representatives of the Association ‘I Have a Truck’. During the talks current issues in the field of road freight transport were discussed, related to the toll system and problems in crossing the two bridges over the Danube. The measures taken so far and the possibilities to facilitate the passage of trucks through the border crossing points were discussed.

The European Commission has given the green light for funding a feasibility study for a new bridge over the Danube at Ruse-Giurgiu in the amount of EUR 6.9 million. The total budget of the project is EUR 13.7 million and the balance of the funds will be provided by the budgets of the two countries.

This year Bulgaria will be the chair of the Regional Advisory Committee for Civil Aviation Search and Rescue (RASARAC). DG Civil Aviation Administration today took over the rotating chairmanship of the Committee from the Civil Aviation Agency of the Republic of North Macedonia.

The Presidency will organise and hold meetings of the Management Board and expert working groups to address issues related to cross-border cooperation, operational procedures and agreements, training and preparation, and search and rescue oversight.

Thanks to the support of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Sofia, the project was implemented in less than 3 months.

The first hospital heliport in Sofia is now registered according to HEMS requirements. It is located at UMBAL Sveta Anna and will be incorporated into the air ambulance system. This was announced by the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov during the handing over of the airport registration documents to the Executive Director of the medical institution Dr. Slavcho Bliznakov.

The Bulgarian and Romanian authorities start an on-the-spot review of all procedures related to the crossing of the Danube Bridge in Ruse. A joint visit to the bridge is to be organised next week by all the institutions involved on both sides responsible for the crossing and traffic control.  This was agreed by the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Dimitar Nedyalkov and his Romanian counterpart Constantin Bunduk during a videoconference call.

With the positioning of the helicopter here, it will cover a wide perimeter in Eastern and Central Bulgaria, as well as part of the Trakia highway

By the end of the year, we will prepare for operation the third temporary operating base for the air emergency. This was said by the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov, who together with the Mayor of Sliven Stefan Radev visited Burshen Airport today. The third temporary and later one of the six permanent HEMS bases will be located there.

Safe driving training should become part of driver training. We are starting studies to implement them in the training program. This was said by the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov at a meeting with parents of children killed in road accidents and representatives of the initiative comittee ‘Together against the madness on the roads’.

Bulgaria and Japan will cooperate in the field of transport security and high-tech development. This was discussed at a meeting of the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeikov with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Bulgaria H.E. Hisashi Michigami.

Two projects to improve young people's digital skills and prepare them for a career in technology will be funded under the Digital Europe programme. The European Commission's assessments have been sent to the Ministry of Transport and Communications as the national coordinator of the programme. The grant agreements are to be signed.

The salaries of BDZ and NRIC employees will be increased from 1 January 2024. For the employees of NRIC and BDZ-Passenger Transport the increase is 19.6%, while for the employees of BDZ-Freight Transport it will be 10% from January 2024 and another 9.6% from April 2024. This is made possible with additional funds provided in the Budget 2024.

In just two months National Railway Infrastructure Company managed to complete three important infrastructure projects — the railway stations of Stara Zagora and Iskar, as well as the connection between the port of Burgas and the interior of the country. This was said by Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Biser Minchev during the opening of the reconstructed railway station Iskar in Sofia.

Deputy Minister Minchev stressed that the station is one of the main points that welcomes passengers and that is why their modernization is of such great importance.

Prime Minister Academic Nikolay Denkov, in the presence of the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov, handed over the certificates of airworthiness (brevets) to the first pilots who will perform emergency medical assistance operations by air — HEMS. The six pilots, who will operate the first two helicopters, have undergone theoretical and practical training and passed their exams.

Children up to 14 years will travel free on public transport. The measure shall enter into force on 1 February 2024. This is what Transport and Communications Minister Georgi Gvozdeykov said at a briefing at the Council of Ministers today, after the government adopted changes to the legislation regulating subsidies and compensation in public transport.