Romania, Bulgaria Eye Building Another Two Danube Bridges, Scraping Giurgiu-Ruse Bridge Toll

They also said the two countries are looking into the possibility of discarding tolls charged for the use of the Danube Bridge linking Giurgiu in Romania to Ruse in Bulgaria, until the beginning of the summer season, at least for cars.

The two prime ministers inaugurated Friday the ferry line linking Turnu Magurele in Romania to Nikopol in Bulgaria, and stressed the two countries plan to jointly carry through other projects as well.

According to information from Bulgarian officials, the ferry line will carry six heavy vehicles and will perform a daily two-way trip on an 800 meter- distance between Turnu Magurele and Nikopol, which will last between eight and ten minutes.

The ferry line was carried out by implementing a joint Romanian-Bulgarian project financed with European Union funds. Romanian authorities undertook to pay EUR4.5 million, of which EUR3.3 million covered by Phare funds, and EUR1.2 million co-financing covered by the beneficiary, according to a press release issued by the Romanian Tourism and Regional Development Ministry.

The ferryboat "EUROPA" crossing the Danube can carry 260 people, 34 light vehicles and up to nine heavy vehicles.

Romanian and Bulgarian authorities will continue construction works on the Calafat-Vidin Bridge and will seek financing sources to further focus on building two new bridges aimed at linking Calarasi to Silistra and Bechet to Oreahovo.

Bulgarian MEPs last year lobbied for the elimination of tolls charged for the use of the Giurgiu-Ruse Bridge, arguing the European Union rules and the principle of free movement are breached in this case. They stressed at that time they will bring the issue before the European Court of Justice unless the problem is solved.

Currently, there are three ferry lines between the two countries: Vidin -Calafat, Silistra-Calarasi and Oriahovo-Bechet.

The Giurgiu-Ruse Bridge has been operational since 1954 and is the only bridge over the Danube River linking Romania to Bulgaria.

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