Bulgaria, Romania Cooperate on Ferries, Bridges, Hydro Power

Emil Boc and Boyko Borisov opened the Nikopol-Turnu Magurele ferry line. Photo by BGNES

The Prime Ministers of Bulgaria and Romania inaugurated Friday the new ferry line connecting Nikopol and Turnu Magurele across the Danube River.

During the ceremony he attended together with his Romanian counterpart Emil Boc, Bulgaria’s PM Boyko Borisov, said the two countries intended to realize a number of joint measures to boost bilateral exchange and travel.

According to Borisov, Bulgaria and Romania are considering reducing the transit fees for the only existing Danube bridge linking them at Ruse-Giurgiu, and building a joint hydro power plant on the Danube. They are also working to complete the construction of the second Danube bridge connecting Bulgaria’s Vidin and Romania’s Calafat.

“We found Danube Bridge 2 in a messy state, and we had to give back to the EU over EUR 200 M as a result. We then had to reapply, and Brussels extended the deadline for us until 2012 so that we can build this bridge with the money of European solidarity,” Borisov said throwing the blame for the slow progress on the second Bulgaria-Romania bridge on his predecessors from the Stanishev government, at least as far as the Bulgarian side is concerned.

“Together with the Romanians, we also intend to built a hydro power plant. This means investments, employment, and prosperity for an entire region. Thus, on our part, as a nation and a country, we need full mobilization, lots of work, so that we can stabilize our situation in the next 2-3 years,” Bulgaria’s PM said.

“We have taken up a number of things together, we want to reduce the transit fees for crossing the Danube, we want to build two more bridges. The Danube will be crossed four times a day by this lovely ferry. Where there is transport and traffic, there is life. The situation is hard but the crisis won’t last for 100 years. We are going to hold firm for several months, for a year, and during that time we are going to progress with our projects,” he elaborated.

The new ferry boat complex is connecting Bulgaria’s town of Nikopol and Romania’s Turnu Magurele.

The distance between the two ferry stations is 800 m. It will take 8 minutes to cross the Danube River for the Romanian ferry boat.

The Bulgarian Port of Nikopol is first going to use an older ferry boat to be provided by Bulgarian River Shipping, Jsc, which will be making the distance in 15 minutes. Later, a brand new ferry boat will be purchased.

Crossing the Danube on the Nikopol - Turnu Magurele ferry will cost EUR 2 per person one-way, EUR 12 per car, and EUR 90-100 per truck.

The investment in the construction of the Nikopol – Turnu Magurele complex is EUR 10 M.

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