Romania, held responsible by the Bulgarian government. “They are not even willing to sign an agreement for new bridges”

The Bulgarian government harshly criticizes Romania for the systematic obstacles to the expansion of infrastructure connectivity along the Danube.

Giurgiu-Ruse Bridge/PHOTO: Border Police

During a visit to Ruse on Thursday, October 23, Grozdan Karadzhov, Bulgaria's Minister of Transport, said that the Romanian authorities are preventing the construction of new bridges and ferry connections, writes Dunavmost.

According to the official, despite the active efforts of Bulgaria and the European Commission, Romania hesitates to extend the connectivity beyond the single point Ruse-Giurgiu.

“We have been working for five months on the road map for the north-south corridors. It is clear that Romania wants to keep only one point: Ruse-Giurgiu.

They are not even willing to sign an agreement for new bridges. It's not a matter of money or construction, it's simply an agreement on paper,” Karadzhov pointed out.

The minister added that the procedures for the third bridge near Ruse were postponed for years, and the environmental procedure is only now moving forward. He pointed out that the Ruse-Giurgiu ferry line could take up to 25% of the bridge's traffic, but even in this case there is a lack of cooperation.

However, Karadzhov announced that work on the long-awaited intermodal terminal in Ruse will begin soon, with the National Railway Infrastructure Company already starting work.

“We expect the concession procedure to start even before its actual completionhe said.