13.02.2024

EC APPROVED THE PROJECT OF BULGARIA AND ROMANIA TO STUDY FOR A SECOND BRIDGE OVER THE DANUBE NEAR RUSE

The European Commission gave the green light for the financing of a feasibility study for a new bridge over the Danube near Ruse-Giurgevo in the amount of 6.9 million euros. The total budget of the project is 13.7 million euros, and the rest of the funds will be provided by the budgets of the two countries.

By the middle of the year at the latest, Bulgaria and Romania will sign an agreement with the European Executive Agency for Climate, Infrastructure and Environment to provide the funding. By 2026, the technical, financial, legal and environmental parameters of the project for a new facility must be clarified.

It is planned that the bridge will be combined - road and railway, with a length of about 2 km. The project also covers the construction of the connecting infrastructure in a section of 15 km on the territory of each of the countries. The bridge will also have a direct connection with the Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo highway currently under construction.

Bulgaria and Romania submitted in September 2023 the joint proposal for funding from the Connecting Europe Facility. Based on the results of the pre-project study, a decision will be made about the location and the method of financing the infrastructure facility.

The first bridge over the Danube River between Bulgaria and Romania was built 70 years ago (1954), and the second - in 2013. Since then, the traffic between the two countries has increased tenfold. In view of the future recovery of Ukraine, the flow of cargo in the direction "North-South" is expected to grow even more, making the project strategically important for the entire region.