Public Relations and Protocol

Dear colleagues,

On October 9, we celebrate World Post Day and express gratitude to the work of the thousands of employees in the postal sector. Over 180 postal operators work in Bulgaria, in conditions of full competition.

The project "Increasing transport safety in the common Bulgarian-Romanian stretch of the Danube River by improving the response to emergency situations through cross-border cooperation" - Danube Safety Net - was successfully completed. This was reported during the closing meeting, which was held in the city of Ruse on October 6-7, 2022.

The Danube Safety Net project is a good example of effective cooperation aimed at achieving a higher level of transport safety, as well as implementing national and European priorities in the field of inland waterways.

The Bulgarian and Romanian Maritime Administrations will hold a closing meeting in connection with the completion of the project "Increasing transport safety in the common Bulgarian-Romanian stretch of the Danube River by improving the the emergency response through cross-border cooperation" – Danube Safety Net. It will take place in the city of Ruse on October 6 and 7, 2022. The partners will report and discuss the results achieved and the technical and financial implementation of the project.

At the beginning of his mandate, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policies and Minister of Transport and Communications, Hristo Alexiev, took immediate action to prepare and submit for consideration to the European Commission the "Transport Connectivity" Program 2021-2027. After a consistent policy and efforts, the Transport Connectivity Program 2021-2027 was approved today by the European Commission. This is the first major infrastructure program for Bulgaria that has been adopted by the European Commission. The budget of the program is approximately 1.61 billion euros.

Bulgaria will be involved in shaping the policy and strategies of one of the UN’s most prestigious agencies - the International Telecommunication Union, which has 193 Member States. Today, at the elections during the Plenipotentiary Conference in Bucharest our country received 137 votes. Bulgaria was elected from the Region C quota, which includes countries from Eastern Europe and Northern Asia.

The Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policies and Minister of Transport and Communications, Hristo Alexiev, sent a letter to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey, Adil Karaismailoglu, regarding reports from Bulgarian maritime associations on the spread of information about a planned fivefold increase in tariffs for passage through the Black Sea Straits, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles.

The Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policies and Minister of Transport and Communications Hristo Aleksiev presented the Bulgarian candidature for a member of the ITU Council - the Union’s governing body in the interval between Plenipotentiary Conferences. The ITU is the oldest organization of the United Nations. The Deputy Prime Minister opened today’s Plenary at the Plenipotentiary Conferences in Bucharest, Romania, which was dedicated to political statements.

Bulgaria and Romania agreed on a third bridge over the Danube River. The infrastructural facility will be constructed at Ruse – Gyurgevo. For this purpose, an agreement will be signed between the two countries. In another document, they will regulate the commitments of the two countries for the implementation of the Fast Danube Project and the creation of a joint company to manage the activities of the project. This was agreed upon by the Deputy Prime Ministers of both countries, Hristo Alexiev and Sorin Grindeanu, at a meeting in Bucharest.

The motor ship Vera Su, which ran aground about a year ago, will be auctioned by open bidding. The initial price is determined based on an expert assessment prepared by a licensed independent assessor.

The stated auction price for the sale of the vessel is USD 460,000 excluding VAT. To participate in the auction, a deposit of 10% of the initial auction price of the vessel being sold is required.

Agreement on cooperation in the technical maintenance of the fairway of the Danube River  between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of Serbia was signed today in Belgrade by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Bulgaria in Belgrade  Petko Doykov and the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of Serbia Tomislav Momirovich.

Urgent measures to stabilize BDZ begin. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Krasimir Papukchiyski at a briefing held today.

Bulgaria and Serbia will work together to guarantee their energy resources in view of the upcoming cold season. This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policies and Minister of Transport and Communications, Hristo Alexiev, after speaking with the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of Serbia, Tomislav Momirovich.

The necessary measures for introducing a new organization of heavy goods traffic at the Danube Bridge in Ruse were discussed during the meeting held today in the city. The Interdepartmental Working Group established between MTC, MRDPW and the Ministry of the Interior identified four points allowing the parking of heavy goods vehicles - Stara Zagora, Veliko Tarnovo, Razgrad and Byala in order to ease the traffic in the city of Ruse, as well as the construction of buffer parking.

By order of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Hristo Alexiev, Deputy Minister Nikolay Naydenov checked the organization of work at Danube Bridge 2 border crossing point. The reason for the inspection was the kilometer-long queue of heavy-weight vehicles at the exit of the country.

Deputy Minister Nikolay Naydenov announced that a Framework document had been prepared between Bulgaria and Romania to ease the procedures for crossing the border checkpoint. An official opinion of the Romanian side on the document is expected.

The evacuation of all passengers from the bus that crashed in the night on Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo road was successful. This became a reality after the immediate action taken by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Hristo Alexiev.

Dialogue with the road transport industry has been restored. This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policies and Minister of Transport and Communications Hristo Alexiev after a meeting with representatives of branch organizations in the field of road transport of passengers and goods. He added that taking urgent measures to achieve sustainability in the road transport sector is one of the important steps to guarantee the country's economic stability.

I am thoroughly acquainted with the transport system, my main task will be to reduce the tension in the sector. This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policies and Minister of Transport and Communications in the Caretaker Government, Hristo Alexiev, upon assuming the post today.

"BDZ- Freight Transport" EOOD initiates talks with the World Bank for the implementation of its investment program for the period until 2024. The company will negotiate for attracting up to 400 million BGN capital. The funds are needed for the acquisition of 5 new electric and 15 diesel locomotives, as well as 600 specialized freight cars. Investments in rolling stock and railway infrastructure are a top priority of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

The program envisages major repairs of 10 units of locomotives and 250 units of freight cars.

The Bulgarian side is ready to provide airport fee incentives and suitable time slots for landing and take-off for air carriers to carry out regular flights between Sofia and Riyadh and Varna - Dammam. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Vladimir Varbanov during a meeting today with the Deputy Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Minister Plenipotentiary H.E. Naif bin Asai.

In a joint operation by the Road Transport Administration Executive Agency , the Ministry of the Interior and the National Revenue Agency, two cars were taken off the road for one year for carrying out unregulated passenger transport through the "Maxim" application. The registration plates of the vehicles were removed, the documents of the cars and the drivers were seized. The imposed sanction for this type of violation is BGN 2,000. Pre-trial proceedings have been initiated for the cases.