Car and freight traffic between Bulgaria and Romania expected to grow steadily, solutions needed

Although the Danube Bridge is currently undergoing repairs on the Bulgarian ‎side, thanks to good coordination, traffic on it has not only not decreased, but ‎has even increased by 24-25% for cars, and is also increasing for trucks.

This ‎was announced on 2 August in Ruse by Bulgarian caretaker Prime Minister ‎Dimitar Glavchev and caretaker Minister of Regional Development and Public ‎Works Violeta Koritarova. They visited the Danube Bridge and the ferry ‎complex in Ruse to inspect the renovation work and to see if solutions are ‎possible to facilitate the crossing of the Bulgarian-Romanian border at Ruse-‎Giurgiu. ‎

The repair works are progressing well, Dimitar Glavchev stated. He has received ‎assurances from the renovation contractor that work on the bridge may even be ‎completed earlier than the stated deadline of 2 years. ‎

Glavchev's inspection took place in the context of the talks of the last few days ‎related to the intense traffic at the Kulata border checkpoint between Bulgaria and Greece and other entry-exit points of ‎Bulgaria and the pressure of transport carriers for solutions. The Bulgarian caretaker ‎prime minister announced that a day before his visit to Ruse, political will had ‎been found to separate EU and non-EU truck traffic.

On 8 August 2024, ‎experts at the Ministry of Transport in Sofia are expected to discuss how this ‎solution can be put into practice. According to the caretaker Prime Minister, ‎this will benefit Bulgarian citizens, including at the Danube Bridge at Ruse. ‎

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The two members of the Bulgarian government also spoke about the need to ‎open a ferry link between Ruse and Giurgiu, which could take 20-30% of the ‎freight traffic on the bridge. According to Glavchev, everything is ready on the ‎Bulgarian side - there is infrastructure and an operator for the ferry, and it can ‎be launched even one week after the decision is taken. The prime minister ‎pointed out that for these things to happen - ferries and bridges - two countries ‎are needed, and regarding the ferry between Ruse and Giurgiu, the decision now lies with the Romanian side.

Third Danube bridge and Ruse-Giurgiu ferry are key projects for the region

"As for the Ruse-Giurgiu ferry, it is very important for us that it is implemented. We have an assurance that it will be launched by the end of September. We are even counting on it because, as the Prime Minister said, it will mean a 20-30% easing of the heavy traffic (on the Danube Bridge), which we will need in the next summer tourist season," explained in turn the caretaker Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Violeta Koritarova.

In the context of the intentions of the Bulgarian authorities to separate heavy traffic according to its origin - from the EU or third countries, it is worth knowing that in Romania this measure has been in place since February this year, and before it was implemented at national level it was first tested at two of the busiest customs offices - Nadlac (at the border with Hungary) and Giurgiu (at the border with Bulgaria).

Traffic between Bulgaria and Romania will obviously continue to increase in the future. This is evidenced by the intentions of the Romanian National Road Infrastructure Investment Company to build a new motorway or expressway between Bucharest and Giurgiu. In July, the public consultation for this project was opened, and one of the topics for discussion is whether to build a motorway or an expressway, but in both cases it is a three-lane road in one direction, and the difference is mainly in the width of the emergency lane.

This motorway should be connected to the future new bridge at Ruse-Giurgiu, which in turn should be connected to the new road link between Ruse and Veliko Tarnovo.

Infrastructure development in northern Bulgaria has long been neglected at the expense of that in the south of the country. Bulgarian economist Dimitar Sabev recently summarised in his blog a number of statistics that show the lagging behind of the "poor relative from the North".

"Northern Bulgaria now accounts for 15% and Southern Bulgaria for 85% of Bulgaria's highways. The historical and geographical region of Northern Bulgaria, which occupies 44% of the territory, is now home to 34% of the country's population; 24% of the added value in the economy is created there and 44% of the Bulgarian unemployed citizens are registered there.

Even more pronounced is the gap between the North, the South and Sofia in terms of foreign direct investment. By the end of 2022, they amount to €4.8 billion in the North and €24.6 billion in the South. The ratio is 16.3:83.7," the analyst writes.

Both Bulgarian and Romanian authorities have recently made statements that it is very hard to negotiate and reach an agreement with the other side. They do so mostly in the context of the difficulties related to reaching an agreement on the construction of new infrastructure and the management of the existing one.

The need for efforts as well as people and organisations that can create trust in the bilateral relationship and drive a new, positive experience in it is evident. Perhaps if both the political elites and the peoples of both countries can, over time, think more about their neighbours not in terms of 'us versus them' but as a community, the big change in our bilateral relationship will happen.

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Photos: BTA, BGNES