EC to Extend Financing of Bulgaria-Romania Danube Bridge II

The site of the Danube Bride 2, connecting Romania's Calafat to Bulgaria's Vidin. File photo.

The European Commission will allow a 2-year extension of the construction of the bridge across the Danube set to connect Bulgaria's Vidin and Romania's Calafat.

The so-called Danube Bridge 2, financed by EU's Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA), was set to be completed by October 2010, but has been delayed due to technical difficulties.

Wednesday the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport announced that it is going to receive the official 2-year extension until October 2012 from the European Commission withing weeks.

63% of the construction work on the bridge, which will facilitate traffic from Central Europe to Greece through western Romania and Bulgaria, are reported to have been completed.

57% of the infractructure adjoining the bridge are also said to be completed, with a total of EUR 38 M paid for the project.

In April the Spanish FCC company, which has been contracted to build Danube Bridge 2, was given a permit to extract construction materials; the lack of such a permit is named one of the major reasons behind the delay.

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