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Infrastructure: Project on Danube's Romanian-Bulgarian stretch navigation to be completed by 2015
A project aimed to provide the navigation conditions on the Danube River's joint Romanian-Bulgarian stretch based on 400 million euros in European Union funding will be completed in mid-2015 as part of the sustainable development of the transportat on the joint stretch, which could get as much as 1.2 billion euros in funding, State Secretary at the Romanian Transport Ministry Valentin Preda said on Monday.
'We have met today at the second meeting of the inter-ministry committee of Romania and Bulgaria on the development of sustainable transport on the inner waterways on the Danube joint stretch and it is very likely that we would be able, by mid-2015, to ensure the conditions for navigation on the entire 471-kilometre joint stretch. We also discussed, in this committee, about common projects, which could draw funding worth up to 1.2 billion euros', Preda told a news conference staged on the occasion of the Committee's second meeting.
Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Nikolina Nikolova stressed that the feasibility studies aimed to ensure the depths on the common stretch of Romania and Bulgaria will be carried out by this mid-year, while the talks on the broader project, aiming to develop inter-modal transport and boost tourism, will target the building of four joint bridges over the Danube.
'I can tell you that on May 9, on Europe's Day, the Calafat-Vidin bridge will be opened and we are also analysing extending the Giurgiu-Ruse bridge as well as (building) two new bridges at Silistra-Calarasi and Nikopol-Turnu Magurele', Nikolova announced.
'It is an important regional project and the European Union will financially back the achievement of the objectives. The environmental side is very important, and the EU will co-fund the conduct of the environmental studies, so that all the projects to be developed should observe the environmental-protection requirements', said George Kremlis, a representative for the EU Directorate General on Environment.