Vladimir Mitev
In August 2024, unverified reports appeared in the Romanian media that Bulgaria is charging or will soon start charging a disinfection fee for every car and truck entering the country. In an interview with Radio Romania and the Friendship Bridge blog, the prefect of the Ruse region, Dragomir Draganov, said that no such tax is currently being levied and that if such a decision is taken in the future, it will be taken at the level of the Council of Ministers. He refuted media reports from Greece and Romania, which claimed that a disinfection fee is paid at each Bulgarian border when entering the country – both for cars and trucks.
Dragomir Draganov also announced that the cooperation with the Romanian side regarding traffic management works on the Danube Bridge is going very well. In fact, traffic on the bridge is even higher now than it was in the same month in 2022 or 2023.
According to the information received from the Romanian authorities, on September 20, 2024 the rehabilitation on the Romanian side of the bridge will start – the iron joints will be repaired. Friendship Bridge sources said that such rehabilitations are mandatory at certain intervals after each major bridge repair. Romania last made major repairs to its section of the bridge in 2015-2016.
Dragomir Draganov also announced that in early September 2024, a public tender will be announced on the Romanian side for the Romanian side to carry out the feasibility study for the construction of the new Ruse-Giurgiu bridge. It should determine the location of the bridge and its nature – whether it will have a railroad size or will be road only, whether it will have two or four lanes, etc.
The new bridge should be operational by 2031-2032, added the governor of the Ruse region, Dragomir Draganov.
Mr. Draganov, the Romanian media has reported that Bulgaria has introduced or will soon introduce a disinfection fee for cars and trucks entering the country. Does such a tax currently exist at the border between Ruse and Giurgiu? What are the facts about these allegations of a disinfection fee at Bulgaria’s borders?
As far as this fee is concerned, the final decision on it rests with the Council of Ministers. Until now, there has been no such decision of the Council of Ministers to introduce a disinfection fee in relation to sheep diseases in Romania. Government decisions are taken in the Council of Ministers.
You know that we now have a rotation in connection with the appointment of the new interim Prime Minister. There will be a government meeting on Wednesday. If such a decision is proposed, it will be discussed and announced by the government. It is not up to the district government or other local institutions to take such a decision. The Ministry of Agriculture has to submit the relevant document on measures to limit the spread of this disease throughout Bulgaria.
But can you confirm that no such fee is currently levied – today being August 22, 2024?
Yes, it is not. Crossing the Ruse-Giurgiu checkpoint and all other borders through which cars, light and heavy goods vehicles enter the territory of Bulgaria is free of charge.
For more than a month, the Friendship Bridge has been under a special traffic light regime, which makes crossing somewhat difficult. What have you learned from this month and a bit of practice in this respect? To what extent do you manage to cope with the large flow of vehicles, given that last week there was a very large influx due to the Romanian holidays?
First of all, let me say that the traffic on the Danube Bridge is currently not controlled by traffic lights but by traffic regulators on both sides. This increases capacity in terms of cars and trucks crossing the bridge.
There is a proposal to purchase a new traffic light with new software and to extend the green and red traffic light periods on both sides. But so far, traffic regulation is done manually by traffic controllers.
There is indeed an increased flow compared to 2022-2023 – for both cars and trucks. Just in the last few days, when it was the weekend, there was a spike in traffic. Around 8000 vehicles passed on average between Bulgaria and Romania, 2300 more vehicles than on the same days of the year in 2023. Freight vehicle traffic was 270 lower on the day compared to the same time last year, but this was due to a road traffic ban order in Bulgaria in connection with the high temperatures. From 13.00 to 21.00, no heavy goods vehicles were allowed to cross the Danube Bridge due to the high temperatures and the crumbling asphalt road surface. It was therefore logical to see a reduction in heavy cargo vehicle traffic.
We are now doing serious coordination between the Romanian and Bulgarian authorities so that we can identify additional measures to further improve the capacity of the bridge and of the border and customs services. We will develop additional measures. However, the problem of resolving the heavy traffic has one main solution – the ferry line between Ruse and the Mocănașu crossing point in Giurgiu needs to be opened so that road traffic can be fluidized. This is starting to increase as September approaches, in connection with the summer and company vacations in Western Europe. They rest in August and now expect an increase in light vehicle traffic and a decrease in heavy vehicle traffic.
You mentioned that you are considering further action with the Romanian authorities on the other side of the river. What more can you say about this?
The first thing we have done since July 2024 is that you can now pay the bridge toll online outside the border checkpoint. This is something that will also happen in Romania in September 2024 – initially on a pilot basis. We also expect online payment for heavy goods vehicles to improve, but the system there is a bit more complicated.
The other thing that needs to be done in relation to this is to reach an agreement at government level that there should be a recognition of the weighing of heavy goods vehicles when they are weighed in Bulgaria by the Romanian authorities, and when they are weighed in Romania, the results should be recognized on the Bulgarian side.
The construction of the new bridge will take 4-5 years. In the meantime, we just need to take all the necessary measures until we enter the Schengen area, so that we can facilitate the crossing of the bridge over the Danube. We must bear in mind that the renovation of the Friendship Bridge in the Bulgarian section will continue into the next year, 2025.
At the recent meeting we had with our colleague, the governor of Giurgiu, we were informed that starting September 20, 2024, a renovation of the iron joints on the Romanian side of the bridge will be carried out, which will create yet another inconvenience for the passage of light and heavy goods traffic over the Bridge over the Danube.
An important announcement made by the Romanian authorities is that a public tender will be launched at the beginning of September 2024 for the expert works for the construction of the second bridge between Ruse and Giurgiu. This procedure is about to start, so we are waiting for the firms that want to participate in the Romanian Government’s public procurement to get involved in order to determine the location of the bridge, as well as to determine what the structure itself will be – whether it will be two or four lanes, whether rail transportation will pass underneath, etc. These characteristics are extremely important for the design of the structure of this bridge.
The construction and commissioning of the new bridge at Giurgiu-Ruse will, in the near future, facilitate transportation traffic not only between Bulgaria and Romania, but also between the European countries whose people and goods cross this section of road. As you can see, with each passing year, the traffic flow is increasing, not decreasing. We have to take into account the great interest of our European partners in vacations on the Bulgarian, Greek and Turkish seas, which offer good conditions for holidays and recreation.
Is it known in which year at the earliest this second Giurgiu-Ruse bridge can be completed and put into operation?
First the design has to be done and then I expect this facility to be operational somewhere around 2031-2032. We need to be aware that there are design and construction works that need to be done and we need a good contractor for that. The Romanian state will take over the construction of this bridge with European funding, and the Bulgarian state will only have to build the infrastructure on our side. So the main financing will be provided for the Romanian state, and the design and construction of the bridge there will involve various European and global companies with expertise in the work.
Photo: The governor of Ruse district Dragomir Draganov (source: YouTube)
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