Danube Bridge repairs may start in October at the earliest

A major overhaul of the Bulgarian section of the Danube Bridge at Ruse could start as early as October. This was explained by the outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Grozdan Karadzhov at a meeting with HE Brânduşa Ioana Predescu - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to Bulgaria. They discussed the lack of good transport connectivity between the neighbouring countries.

The design of the overhaul of the Bulgarian section of the bridge between Ruse and Giurgiu is at the final stage and the opinion of the National Railway Infrastructure Company is awaited. The project will define the specific repair and restoration works, the estimated cost and the timeframe for their implementation. Once the technical design is ready, the Road Infrastructure Agency will issue public tenders for the builder and for supervision. If the repair works start by the end of this year, the bridge will be ready in the spring.

“Bulgaria and Romania share ambitious projects in transport and road infrastructure. They need to be implemented. We need better connectivity to develop trade, business and tourism”, the regional minister said.

Ambassador Predescu expressed satisfaction with his work with the Bulgarian authorities over the past six months and expressed hope that the work on the strategic infrastructure projects will continue regardless of the political situation in the country.

The Deputy Prime Minister presented to Ambassador Predescu priority road projects. For example the motorway “Ruse - Veliko Tarnovo, part of the transport corridor from Bucharest through Bulgaria to Alexandroupolis in Greece. Another project is the Black Sea Motorway, for which the RIA is preparing an extended conceptual design.

Of key importance for both countries are also the routes along the Orient-East Mediterranean transport corridor. The idea is to build a highway from Vidin through Montana with a tunnel under the “Petrohan” pass to Sofia, where it would connect with the “Struma” Motorway. For its part, Romania should improve its transport infrastructure to the “Danube Bridge 2” from Arat to Calafat. For the motorway project to link Western Europe with Athens via Danube Bridge 2, the Deputy Prime Minister has received support from the European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reform, Elisa Ferreira.

Minister Karadzhov briefed Ambassador Predescu on the risks to the implementation of the Vidin - Botevgrad road, the motorways “Struma” through Kresna Gorge and “Hemus”.

The territorial cooperation programmes were discussed as one of the main instruments for joint activities in the interest of the two countries. The new INTERREG VI-A Romania-Bulgaria 2021-2027 programme has a budget of 207.5 million euros and is expected to be approved by the European Commission.