site.btaBulgaria and Romania Sign Agreement for Joint Procurement on Fast Danube 2 Project

Bulgaria and Romania will jointly handle public procurement for the Fast Danube 2 project, following the signing of an agreement between the Exploration and Maintenance of the Danube River Executive Agency and Romania's Galati Lower Danube River Administration. The agreement was signed Friday during a meeting on the project, which is aimed at improving navigation conditions on the common Bulgarian-Romanian section of the Danube River, the Ministry of Transport and Communications said on Friday.

During the event’s opening, Deputy Transport Minister Angel Zaburtov said that the Fast Danube 2 project will enhance connectivity in the Danube region with the rest of the European Union and facilitate the free movement of people and goods. He underscored that the initiative includes large-scale engineering measures to improve navigational safety in the shared section of the river.

"The investment is strategically important not only for Bulgaria and Romania but for the entire European Union. I am confident that with good coordination and teamwork, we will achieve the goals set," said Zaburtov. He added that the project is part of the broader framework of the Trans-European Transport Network and contributes to the optimization of the Rhine-Danube Corridor. “It is an example of sustainable and long-term cooperation between the two neighboring countries in transport infrastructure and regional mobility,” the Deputy Minister said.

Attending the meeting were Romanina Ambassador to Bulgaria Brandusa Ioana Predescu, the State Secretary in Romania’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Ionut-Cristian Savoiu, as well as representatives from the European Commission and relevant institutions from both Bulgaria and Romania.

The FAST Danube 2 project, worth nearly EUR 230 million (excluding VAT), has been elaborated in partnership between Bulgaria and Romania and has been approved for funding  under the Connecting Europe Facility. The Bulgarian side has to provide EUR 111,800,000, including grants of up to 85%. The engineering measures planned for the common section of the river will improve the navigation conditions and the traffic safety along the Danube.