Bulgaria, Romania Face Fines over Non-Functioning Ferry Line

Bulgaria and Romania face tough financial sanctions from the EU unless they open the Silistra-Kalaras ferry line. Photo by bnr.bg

Bulgaria and Romania face tough financial sanctions from the EU unless they open the Silistra-Kalaras ferry line.

The Silistra-Kalaras ferry complex, which was built using tens of millions of EU funds, is closed, according to reports of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT).

The ferry line has been out of service for a third year due to misunderstandings between the concessionaires on both sides of the Danube.

The 35-year concession contract for the Silistra ferry terminal was terminated with a decision of the Council of Ministers from May 4 due to the non-performance of key obligations of the concessionaire, Danube Industrial Park AD.

In the beginning of June, the ferry complex was transferred to the state-owned Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company, with Bulgaria lacking both a carrier and a concessionaire, according to Nikolay Dimov, District Governor of Silistra.

Faced with the lack of a carrier, Bulgaria once again sat on the negotiation table with the Romanian authorities to find a way out of the predicament.

No Bulgarian carrier has shown interest and the only solution is for the ferry line to be serviced by the Romanian concessionaire only, on the condition that the truck traffic from Silistra to northern Europe should be redirected to the ferry line.

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