Romania and Bulgaria Plan Five New Danube River Bridges

Romania and Bulgaria began feasibility studies for the building of five new bridges over the River Danube after a meeting on Monday in Bucharest between Romania's Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu and his Bulgaria counterpart, Nikolai Sabev.

There are currently only two bridges linking the two countries across the Danube - Giurgiu-Ruse and Calafat-Vidin - and the simultaneous feasibility studies for the five new bridges are seen as a significant achievement after many years of talks.

Under the new agreement, Bulgaria has undertaken to dredge the Danube, which was a condition imposed by Romania, and the Bulgarian authorities are to allocate 15 million lev (almost 7.7 million euros) of funds for the purpose.

"The documents have been prepared. They were already sent to the Public Procurement Agency for initial checks, and funds have been distributed for three years," stated Sabev.

Grindeanu pledged to cooperate with local authorities to speed up renovation work in Giurgiu, an essential southern border crossing point with Bulgaria.

Bulgaria intends to start renovation work on its side at the Danube Bridge I in July, which Romania believes could create problems for tourists and goods transport.

But Sabev said that he talked to Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov to find a solution that will not have an impact on traffic or the Giurgiu-Ruse bridge, one of the primary links connecting Romania to Bulgaria.

The location is also significant because Giurgiu is one of the most important Romanian cities on the Danube and is also an essential location on Corridor 7 of the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal.

On the other side of the Danube, the Bulgarian city of Ruse is becoming more important for joint investment projects with...