1. Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works
“Danube- The River that connects us”
Sofia 19 April 2012
Building for Change
Bulgaria: infrastructures and projects for a growing Country

2. Danube river – the core element of the Danube Strategy
Length – km
Bulgarian part of the Danube river – 470 km
European importance – Trans European Transport Corridor VII and part of Waterway axis Rhine/Meuse-Main-Danube
Bridges over the river – 109
For Bulgaria - 1 operative (Ruse-Gurgevo) and 1 under construction Vidin -Kalafat (2012)
By 2020 two new bridges are foreseen to be constructed : Silistra-Kalarash and Oriahovo-Beket
Danube Regions do not have high standard motorways and high-speed roads

3. EU strategy for the Danube Region
Contributes to regional cooperation among the countries in the Danube region and helps to achieve the objectives of the cohesion policy
Gives ability to optimally exploiting the potential of the Danube
Possibility of Bulgarian regions for economic, social, cultural cooperation and partnership with other EU regions to improve their competitiveness

4. Danube Strategy – macro regional strategy – new approach for development of the region
Adopted during the Hungarian Presidency of EU – 24 June 2010
14 countries participate – 8 member states and 6 non member states
4 pillars – connectivity, environment, social and economic cohesion, security
11 priority areas adopted with the Action plan – 2 country coordinators per priority area
Targets that are proposed and agreed by The steering Group of Priority Area 1 “To improve mobility and multimodality/inland waterways” are :
“Increase the cargo transport on the river by 20% by 2020 compared to 2010”.
“Solve obstacles to navigability, taking into account the specific characteristics of each section of the Danube and its navigable tributaries and establish effective waterway infrastructure management by 2015”
“Develop efficient multimodal terminals at river ports along the Danube and its navigable tributaries to connect inland waterways with rail and road transport by 2020”.
“Implement harmonized River Information Services (RIS) on the Danube and its navigable tributaries and ensure the international exchange of RIS data preferably by 2015”.
“Solve the shortage of qualified personnel and harmonize education standards in inland navigation in the Danube region by 2020, taking duly into account the social dimension of the respective measures”.

5. The Danube River itself is a major TEN-T Corridor VII
The Danube River itself is a major TEN-T Corridor VII. However, it is used way below its full capacity
Freight transport on the Danube is only 10%-20% of that on the Rhine
There is particular need for greater multimodality, better interconnection with other river basins
The river basin has much potential for sustainable inland navigation, and the river is central.This needs improvements in management, equipment and availability of qualified staff.
The physical capacity of the Danube and its tributaries should be improved, and existing bottlenecks removed, to ensure the proper level of navigability
Road, rail and air infrastructure is often inefficient or simply missing, especially cross-border connections.

6. Bulgarian vision in the framework of Priority area 1 – reaching the target “Increase the cargo transport on the river by 20% by 2020
This vision has been integrated into complex projects on trans-European transport corridors - № 7, № 4, № 10 and № 9.
5 Trans European corridors
cross Bulgaria

7. Connectivity Bulgarian priorities in the road sector BG 2020 and Danube region
Hemus” HW
Express Road “Varna-Durankulak”
Express Road “Ruse-Shumen”
Express Road “ Ruse – “Veliko Tarnovo”
Tunnel under Shipka
“Sofia- Kalotina” HW
2 new bridges on the Danube River

8. “Connectivity” 7 9 4 10  Vidin Ruse   Varna  Sofia  Stara Zagora

9. Connectivity European Transport Corridor №4
Modernization of railway line Vidin-Sofia - total project cost 2.6 billion euros The modernization will be completed during the programming period 
Reconstruction and renovation of the road E-79, Vidin, Montana - 32 million euros
Modernization for a road stretch of road E-79-Botevgrad Vratsa, part of TEN-T network - 85 million euros
Rehabilitation and reconstruction of northern, western and eastern tangent of Sofia - 150 million

10. Connectivity European Transport Corridor №9 and №10
Ensuring the connection with Corridor 9:
Express road “ Ruse – Veliko Tarnovo”
Ensuring the connection with Corridor 10 :
Building "Maritza“HW - the shortest route to Instanbul and the way to transport goods to the EU-Asia and Middle East
Building “Sofia-Kalotina-Nish” HW

11. Connectivity Cross-border infrastructure projects
Construction of third and fourth bridge over the Danube at Silistra-Calarasi (230million) and Oryahovo-Becket (200 million)
Other infrastructure projects
Reconstruction and modernization of the existing bridge over the Danube -Ruse- Giurgiu (20 million)

12. Waterway navigation current situation
Bulgarian actions on (TEN-T priority project № 18 - Waterway axis Rhine/Meuse-Main-Danube)
Improving navigation in the common Bulgarian-Romanian section of the Danube River
Establishment of River Information Services System in the Bulgarian part of Danube River (BulRIS)
„IRIS Europe II-2008-EU S” – TEN-T Project
Improvement of the Systems for Navigation and Topo-hydrographic measurements on the Danube River

13. “Connectivity”
Construction and modernization of infrastructure on Pan European Corridor № 7     
Construction of new bridges and reconstruction of the existing bridge over the Danube River;
Construction, reconstruction and modernization of ferry links;
Construction and reconstruction of port infrastructure;
Improvement of the navigability over the Danube River;
Construction of Intermodal Terminal in Ruse
Construction of a bike route and bike lanes along the Danube River from Vidin to Silistra – the Danube Bike Lane (part of the Trans-European Bike Lane along the Danube River.)
Construction of the Danube Panoramic Road (from Vidin to Silistra )
Railway line Ruse-Varna

14. Bulgarian ports on the Danube River Infrastructure for international transport - Rail and road access - Ferry and ro-ro services - Container Terminal Areas - logistic Centres - Intermodal terminals (intermodal terminal in Rousse - indicative value -20 million)
Danube River
Vidin
Tutrakan
Silistra
Ruse
Lom
Oryahovo
Somovit
Svishtov

15. Projects in PA 2 Integrating energy systems, promoting energy efficiency and increasing renewable energy sources:
Building of pipeline “Bulgaria-Romania”;
Development of gas interconnection Bulgaria-Serbia;
Integration of the energy markets of Bulgaria and Romania
Reconstruction of gas depot “Chiren”
Construction and development of plants for renewable energy sources:
-Development of a photovoltaic power plant in number of BG Danube river municipalities;
-Creation of a demo village with zero energy consumption
Implementation of innovative geothermal projects;
Developing and implementing a scientific development program for sustainable insulation materials and other measures to improve energy efficiency of buildings.

16. PA3 - ‘To promote culture and tourism, people to people contacts’
Improvement of the planning and infrastructure development for a sustainable tourism;
Development of the Danube Region as a European brand and important tourist destination;
Development of cultural tourism and cultural exchange;
Development of Eco tourism and Activity Tourism.
Examples:
Project LOCUS “Along the Banks of Danube” Project
Project LOCUS “The stony forest”
Project LOCUS “The City of Renaissance
Project “Ancient Roman heritage, wine and SPA transregional cultural tourist products with Serbia, Romania and Croatia”
Project „The road to the Iron Curtain Trail ” an EU project
Project “Construction of Danube Park Vidin – Calafat”

17. PA 4‘To restore and maintain the quality of waters’
Implementation of integrated projects to improve drinking water and waste water infrastructure for agglomerations with over PE (50 pcs.) and for agglomerations between and PE (161 pcs.)
Improving and strengthening the systems for waste management and for restoration of damaged areas and natural landscapes.
Development of a processing and recycling plant for municipal solid waste;
Construction of municipal solid waste dumps;
Cleaning of the river beds of the adjacent rivers which flow later into the Danube Area;

18. PA5 ‘To manage environmental risks’
Bulgarian actions on integrated operational management and prevention of crises, disasters and accidents are:
Creation of revetments, dykes and embankments, strengthening the coastline;
Efficient management of emergency situations in the cross-border area;
Cleaning of the river beds of the rivers in the area which flow into the Danube River to prevent the consequences of large volumes of water and reduce industrial pollutants;
Rehabilitation of the irrigation and drainage system in the Danube Area
Example:
Project “Protecting the coastal line from erosion”

19. PA6 - ‘To preserve biodiversity, landscapes and the quality of air and soils’
Developing new and updating the existing management plans for protected areas along the Danube and the implementation of activities set out there in;
Bulgarian actions to create a management framework for NATURA 2000 sites:
Building a network of protected Natura 2000 areas and phased development of management plans for protected areas along the Danube;
Implementation of activities for endangered animal and plant species occurring along the Danube;
Implementation of projects related to restoration of wetlands along the Danube
Bulgarian actions to develop green infrastructure to connect different bio-geographic regions and habitats:
Building the Eco-Corridor Bulgaria - Serbia - Romania for studies, monitoring and analysis of the ecosystem - water and soil, in view of the production of clean food;
Implementation of projects on the rehabilitation of wetlands along the Danube River:

20. PA7 - ‘To develop the knowledge society through research, education and information technologies’
Improving the quality of education, meeting the demand of the labour market, creating opportunities for training and conditions for development of applied research and scientific activities to transfer knowledge and know-how;
Improving opportunities for education, retraining and lifelong learning across the region, with emphasis on the conservation and development of natural and cultural heritage of the Danube region.

21. PA8 - ‘To support the competiveness of enterprises, including cluster development’
The priority of promoting the competitiveness of enterprises and the Common Market in the Bulgarian position includes initiatives to support entrepreneurship, capacity building for implementation of effective financial and investment policy at the local level, promoting business cooperation and development of small and medium businesses and development of projects for building of industrial and technological parks, transportation and logistics and exhibition centres.

22. PA9 - ‘To invest in people and skills’
The Danube region is characterized by many different ethnic groups, 80% of the Roma currently live in the Danube region. An equally important factor is the socio-economic exclusion and spatial segregation. Therefore, there is a huge need for policy coordination at all levels (national, regional) in the field of education, employment, health and others. Countries of the Danube region have the opportunity to work together and share experiences and best practices in this area.
The position of Bulgaria under this priority is that it should not be regarded as a separate priority, but should be integrated into other priorities as a horizontal measure. Social inclusion and integration of the Roma and other minorities should not be treated separately from all priority actions for economic and social development of the region.

23. PA10 - ‘To step up institutional capacity and cooperation’
The Danube region is characterized by different, stronger or weaker traditions in the field of law, transparency, democracy, market economy and political stability, as well as by varying degrees of decentralization.
Bulgaria will support and participate in joint initiatives such as the Danube Forum Civil Society, Danube Environmental Forum, Council of Culture Ministers of Southeast Europe, Joint guidelines to improving spatial planning

24. PA11 - ‘To work together to promote security and tackle organised and serious crime’
Further development of structures and improvement of qualifications in the domain of police work, justice and home affairs;
Creation of strong, functioning, well-equipped border-management institutions;
Equipment of borders and border crossings with biometric passport readers, CCTV cameras, online interconnections with Interpol databases, night-vision equipment, and infra-red sensors”;
Participation and support to cooperation among the administrations of the states in the area of legal security and good governance;
To enhance the administrative capacity in customs administrations;
To improve conditions (tariffs, licensing regulations, timetables and transport routes) for cross-border traffic of passengers and goods;
To introduce uniform quality certification systems and analyse veterinary and public health regulations which prevent free movement of goods and services;
To set up a unified early warning system;
To improve the border crossing regimes with non-EU countries.

25. Benefits and added value for the countries of the Danube macro-region
Improving the transport connectivity and accessibility of the regions in the Danube macro-region;
Expansion of economic, social and cultural cooperation within the macro-region
Joint resolution of issues of common interest including business issues as providing global access to the territory of the macro-regions and other EU regions (such as transport links, Baltic - Black Sea), the EU - Middle East (Asia );
Implementation of a common policy on intermodal transportation and development of environmentally friendly forms of transport ;
Use of public-private partnership to develop new transport transitions on the Danube River between Bulgaria and Romania. For example, new ferry links, and other bridges
Modernization of the ports under the National Programme for development of the ports for public transport by 2015 and the Strategy for development of transport infrastructure in the Republic of Bulgaria 2015
Improvement of navigation in the Bulgarian-Romanian common section of the river

26. Connecting Europe Facility- New Challenge of Europe for interconnection of the region
Unlocking the potential
Development of Trans European Corridor VII through improvement of the navigability on Danube River, modernization of the port infrastructure and development of the information systems
Using CEF and involving all the interested countries- possible common participation
Danube is part of the proposed core network corridor in CEF- 10. Strasbourg- Danube corridor and pre-indentified section “Danube”
Using the integrated approach and involving the other interested countries of the Danube Strategy preparing a common project proposal to be financed using CEF :common action plan, project indicators, concrete responsibilities, milestones, deadlines etc.

27. Last Bulgarian Activity
Setting up of a Coordination mechanism at national level for the implementationof the EU Strategy for the Danube Region
-through this mechanism, the activities for the realization of the Danube Strategy will become part of the policy of the government and each ministry, while ensuring effective interaction between the political and expert level
Development of key strategic documents for the New programming period ( ) 
Specifying the priority projects by 2020 with neighboring countries
Clear common action plan to all stakeholders in Bulgaria for their participation in the Danube strategy and clearly defined responsibilities and specific tasks.

28. Thank you for your kind attention!
Nikolina Nikolova
Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public works
17-19 “Sv.Sv. Kiril and Metodii str. Sofia 1202, Bulgaria
Tel: ; fax: