Public Relations and Protocol

Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Velik Zanchev participated in the Third Meeting of Ministers of Transport of the countries from Central and Eastern Europe and China. The event, which was held in the period 16-17 October 2018 in Belgrade, was opened by the president of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlović.

Dividing the Road Traffic Act into three separate acts will positively affect road safety, said the Executive Director of EA Road Administration at a seminar on RADAR Project – assessment and measures to reduce road risks of the road safety criterion – A vision for better safety, taking place today and tomorrow in the town of Pravets.

The WiFi4EU Free Wireless Internet Initiative Portal is already active and a European Commission funding competition is due to be launched. In this regard, the Ministry of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications (MTITC) has addressed the 227 Bulgarian municipalities registered so far to check their profiles and documents. The remaining 38 municipalities in Bulgaria can also register for the competition. The application deadline is expected to be short, probably within three days.

Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications Dimitar Genovski together with the Air Force Commander General Major Tsanko Stoykov validated a postcard dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the legendary aviator Simeon Petrov.

At the suggestion of the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov, the government terminated the concession procedure at Plovdiv Airport.

The process was initiated by the Council of Ministers Decree No 1120 of 30 December 2016, and in the course of the procedure the Government designated the Concessionaire Consortium between Hainan and Plovdiv Airport Invest. Within the statutory period, the first-ranked participant informed about the impossibility to conclude a concession contract.

We will all together defend our national consolidated position on the Mobility Package texts proposed during the Austrian EU Council presidency. This is what the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov said at his first meeting with representatives of the branch organizations of freight transport companies. He expressed his willingness to continue the active dialogue with the branch and the Bulgarian representatives in the European Parliament, regardless of their affiliation to different political families.

Minister of Transport, Information technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov proposed to the Council of Ministers to terminate the concession procedure of Plovdiv Airport. The motives for the decision are that the procedure should be carried out in compliance with the new Concessions Act, which introduces the provisions of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts. The current procedure to award a concession of Plovdiv Airport was launched and carried out in compliance with the rescinded Concessions Act.

Today, 3 October 2018, the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and communications, with Decision № РК-3 of 03.10.2018 approved the Revision Notice to Notice № 2018/S 127-290417 published in the Official Journal of the EU on 5 July 2018.

The Notice provides for the deadline for filing bids and offers for the concession procedure at Sofia Airport to be extended until 22 November 2018, 16:30 EET. Bids will be opened on 23 November 2018 at 9:00 EET.

The Revision Notice was sent for publishing to the Official Journal of the EU on 3 October 2018.

We need to start working on a new road safety strategy now. This was announced by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Rossen Jeliazkov, in the framework of the conference "Working together to make our roads safer - an improved model for road safety and good practice". The event was organized by the Ministry of Interior under the auspices of the Bulgarian Presidency.

Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jelizkov met with the Director General of DG “Mobility and Transport” and an EC High Level Coordinator for road safety issues Matthew Baldwin. Minister Rossen Jeliazkov presented the package of measures to reduce road traffic accidents that are currently being elaborated in MTITC.

Minister Rossen Jeliazkov met with the President of Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) Plamen Dimitrov and Petar Bunev, the chairman of Syndicate of Railway Undertakers in Bulgaria

Minister Jeliazkov presented to the trade union leaders the development policies in the Transport sector and the projects currently under way. During the discussion were discussed also topical issues related to the state and development of Bulgarian State Railways and Bulgarian Posts.

Society is accepting the policy of securing buses with belts and awaits for initiatives in this direction, Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov announced during a hearing in the Committee on Transport, Information Technology and Communications at the National Assembly. Representatives of the branch organizations of coache services and the carriers also took part in session of the commission.

At present, BDZ is one of the basic pillars of the Bulgarian economy. The anniversaries are not only historical facts but also legitimate expectations for their development. This was stated by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov during the validation of a post-philatelic edition dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the company's establishment.

If there are no appeals against tender procedures, the “National Railway Infrastructure Company" (NRIC) will sign contracts with contractors in the railway sector at the amount of over 1.5 billion BGN in the first months of 2019. Right afterwards, we are entering an active phase of construction, Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technologъ and Communications Velik Zanchev announced at the opening of the Construction conference in 2019, organized by the Bulgarian Construction Chamber and “Stroitel” newspaper.

The Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Dimitar Genovski, validated a souvenir sheet on the 80th anniversary of Pleven Philatelic Society. The organization is among the first philatelic companies in Bulgaria and the town of Pleven itself is a metaphorical capital of Bulgarian philately as it hosted major forums such as World Youth Philatelic Exhibition and the Balkan Championship.

The sheet is designed by the Director of Pleven Philatelic Society, Nikolai Mladenov, and depicts the town at the time of the organization’s establishment.

Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Anguel Popov together with the M.P. from the respective select committee, Stanislav Ivanov, the Executive Director of Executive Agency “Automobile Administration”, Boyko Ranovski and experts from the Agency hold a meeting with the representatives of the technical services on verification of the vehicles’ reliability. The main topic of the discussion was the forthcoming amendment to the Road Transport Act concerning the technological proposals on the mandatory requirement for equipment of buses with safety belts.

Today, at 17:45, a two-seat plane departed from Lesnovo Airport flying in uncontrolled airspace at a height of 3100 meters, then crossed the airspace of Varna Airport before landing at 18.54 at Balchik Airport. The pilot confirmed that he had contacted Balchik Airport and was about to land. Upon landing, the plane hit the runaway, overturned and set itself on fire with the pilot dying on the spot. A team of the Air Accident Investigation Unit to the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications will investigate the accidnet.

Executive Agency “Automobile Administration” compiled 11 acts of three driving schools in Plovdiv. After a preliminary analysis of the training centers in the city of Plovdiv in three motorcycles there were found great differences between the declared revenues and the actually trained candidates. In the course of the inspection with the National Revenue Agency, the Economic Police at the National Police Directorate and the Regional Police Directorate - Plovdiv, the inspectors of the EA |Automobile Administration” found numerous administrative violations.

Diving teams from Hydroremont Varna and Deep Dive Systems Ltd. Sofia examine the sunken ship near Sozopol, which has been polluting the bay with oil for several days. Divers from Sozopol volunteered in the operation. The collected data will be used to draw up a technical proposal to drain the fuel. The various possibilities are to be proposed and discussed within a few days.

Meanwhile, EA “Maritime Administration” provided a cutter and tugboat that are in the vicinity of the containment area and are relocated depending on the change in the wind and currents direction.

The minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Ivaylo Moskovski, inspected the area of the oil spill near the town of Sozopol. The team onboard of EA Maritime Administration’s cutter monitored the measures to contain the oil spill and discussed further measures.