Vladimir Mitev
As of 2023, Viktor Gugushev is chairman of the board of the Bulgarian-Romanian Chamber of Commerce (formerly known as the Bulgarian-Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry). This is an association of some of the most important Bulgarian and Romanian companies doing business in both countries and is based in Ruse. The first part of the interview with Viktor Gugushev is dedicated to the difficulties of crossing the bridge over the Danube, which arose after the start of its repair on the Bulgarian side on 10 July 2024, and the solutions proposed by the Chamber. The interview took place on 24 July 2024.
Mr. Gugushev, the Bulgarian-Romanian Chamber of Commerce has sent proposals to Bulgarian institutions to facilitate the crossing of the Friendship Bridge, the repair of which on the Bulgarian side started on 10 July 2024. Could you tell us about these proposals and the reaction you received?
Good afternoon, thank you very much for the invitation and for the opportunity to address important topics and important issues related to the Romanian-Bulgarian relations, especially from the economic point of view, as we are a chamber of commerce.
As you rightly mentioned, also, since the beginning of July 2024, the long-awaited renovation of the Friendship Bridge has started, which is of course necessary. This renovation has been planned for some time. In any case, it is the right step. It should somewhat improve connectivity between the two countries. Most importantly, the renovation will lead to much greater safety for passengers and citizens, as well as for freight transportation.
The Friendship Bridge is the route of serious economic exchanges, and not only between Bulgaria and Romania. It is a kind of Asian gateway to Central Europe. It transports goods from Greece and Turkey to Central Europe. Therefore, the repair of the bridge itself is something extremely positive. We should all welcome it because it is urgent.
The problem is the way in which the organization of the repair itself is taking place and the timetable which has been set for it. After consulting road construction experts and others, we realized that the timeframe set for the repair of the bridge could have been much shorter.
It is clear that road safety requires this repair to be carried out. However, given that the bridge is a major artery of connectivity between the two countries, we wonder whether more could not be done – for example, in organizing traffic on other routes or with the development of ferry transport.
We also wonder whether the deadlines could be shortened. Currently, the renovation should be completed in two years. We, as business organizations, believe that it was not the right time to start this renovation at the beginning of the active summer season. Because Romanian tourists are quite important for the Bulgarian tourism sector, especially for the northern Black Sea coast.
The start of the renovation creates a serious precondition for avoiding this route and, in general, for avoiding Bulgaria as a destination at the beginning of the summer season. I think this decision was wrong. In any organization, when such a large-scale project and such a large-scale organization are made, they should have been carried out before the beginning of the summer season or at the end of the summer season. And I will explain why.
No matter how well a process is planned, no matter how well thought out in advance, if at all, in terms of higher permeability measures, alternative routes, etc., it is not known whether they are sufficiently effective until they are actually implemented. In other words, if the renovation itself had started in the autumn season, when the traffic is not so heavy and this route is not so congested, this would have given both the Bulgarian authorities and their Romanian counterparts the opportunity to see whether this process was sufficiently well thought through, whether it could be improved and whether it could be changed in any way for better results. And if this happens in a less busy season, it is much less likely to affect business, the tourism sector and so on. Because when you do this in a much less busy period, if you identify any gaps, any mistakes, you can correct them more easily. This research takes time. When the process is started and implemented, it takes time to analyze what the gaps are and what could be improved.
What has happened now is to start the review in the busiest and peak season, where institutions will need a few weeks to see if what they have set up as an organization and process is working well enough. This we think could be done in the autumn season. Because anyway, assuming the implementation period is two years, it will cover two summer seasons in any case. But it is better to start operating in a less busy season than in the busiest possible time.
Therefore, we, as the Romanian-Bulgarian Chamber, as a business organization with a very large number of member companies, mainly in the tourism sector, in the logistics sector and so on, prepared a statement almost two months before the start of the renovation in question, expressing these concerns. I addressed it to the Council of Ministers. It was brought to the attention of both the Bulgarian Prime Minister and the line ministers who are involved in this issue.
Unfortunately, I have not received any response from those in power on this issue and also on the further action that we have taken, for example, on electronic payment of taxes, the absence of counters and so on, which will ease traffic. But the main problem for me stems from the start of the renovation in the main loading season and the long lead time. So, we, as one of the most important chambers of commerce in the country, representing quite serious businesses, had a point of view on this, but unfortunately our extensions were not taken into account.
Photo: The Friendship Bridge (source: Gonzosft, CC BY 3.0, Wikipedia Commons)
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