January 28 (BTA) - Deputy Prime Minister for Regional Development and Public Works Grozdan Karadjov and Transport and Communications Minister Nikolay Sabev met here on Friday with Romanian Deputy Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu, who is also Transport and Infrastructure Minister. After the meeting, held on Sabev's initiative, he said that the ferry service between Rousse and Giurgiu will resume "by June at the latest". The capacity of the service, discontinued more than 30 years ago, will be such so as to relieve the heavy traffic along the bridge connecting the two cities, which is even heavier during the summer, Sabev said.

The Transport Minister also said that a regulation will be signed between Bulgaria and Romania to align the border-crossing regimes which is expected to facilitate traffic and put an end to the lines of waiting vehicles. Sabev also said that this is a step ahead in the government's policy to ease traffic and accelerate the movement of passengers and cargo via border checkpoints with neighbouring countries. 
Sabev said that he and his Romanian counterpart agreed to have such meetings every three months. Furthermore, studies begin on choosing locations for building more bridges across the Danube between Bulgaria and Romania. Work will also go ahead under the Fast Danube project intended to make the Danube navigable year-round.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Grindeanu and Sabev after the meeting, Karadjov voiced a hope that the much needed repair works on the Danube bridge between Rousse and Giurgiu will begin already this year, with the idea of completing them in the spring next year. Karadjov said that Romania carried out repair works on the bridge in 2018 but an examination by a Bulgarian team detected problems, including bared structural elements. 

Approached to comment work on the future motorway between Rousse and Veliko Turnovo, North-Central Bulgaria, Karadjov said that competitive bidding was held at the end of 2020, the beginning of 2021. He said that Friday's talks with the Romanian side are the beginning of the work on choosing the staring point of the future motorway, which is still not known. In Karadjov's words, the project depends on the NATURA plans of the two neighbouring countries. He said this is why the contractor has not yet been named, adding that Friday's talks are expected to take the process forward. The Minister went on to say that in the more distant future, from the Blakan Range the motorway go down south, cross the Thrace and Maritsa motorways and reach the Greek border. "This makes the road a true transport corridor between Romania, Bulgaria and Greece," he said, noting that financial support for such a project could be obtained from Connecting Europe, especially the border facilities. 

Source: Rousse, on the Danube