RSS
Boiko Borisov: Calafat-Vidin Bridge across the Danube, to be finished next spring
The Calafat-Vidin Bridge across the Danube, connecting Romania to Bulgaria is going to be inaugurated next spring, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said on Wednesday. He made this statement in a joint press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta, after flying in a helicopter over the area where the bridge was being built.
'Flying over in a helicopter, we could see the adjoining structure on both Danube shores. Construction works are very intense. There is little time to completion and until spring we have time to finish it,' Borisov said.
The Bulgarian Premier added that he agreed with the Spanish company building the bridge 'to observe the deadline and until spring it will be inaugurated.'
In context, he said that Bulgaria and Romania were an example of good cooperation between states.
European Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn and Romanian European Affairs Minister Leonard Orban are also participating in the meeting at Calafat-Vidin between the Romanian and Bulgarian Prime Ministers.
At present, the works of the project belonging to the Romanian side are completed 95 percent. The initial deadline for the works completion was December 2010, but because the project drawn up by the Bulgarian side for the bridge was different from the initial feasibility study made by the Bulgarian side planner, a redesign was required, for the Romanian side objective, included.
PM Ponta: April-May 2013 would be a realistic deadline for opening the Calafat-Vidin bridge
Romania's Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Wednesday voiced hopes that he and his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov will be the first to cross by car the bridge over the Danube at Calafat-Vidin, saying that April-May 2013 would be a realistic deadline for the opening of the bridge.
Ponta was a on a working visit to the bridge that links Romania to Bulgaria being built by the two countries, 95 percent of which is completed in Romania.
'I hope that together with Boyko we will be here in the first car that will cross the bridge,' said Ponta.
'And Commissioner Hahn,' said Borisov. 'I will come by bicycle,' replied European Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn.
Ponta underscored the need to build the related infrastructure, insisting that without this infrastructure the bridge would be unusable.
'The railway and the road are equally important as the bridge. In my opinion, the completion of the bridge is just the beginning of the related infrastructure projects. We have to work together on this and we need the aid of the European Commission as well as funds to improve the infrastructure. Then, politicians will have to make decisions more quicker,' said Ponta.
He added that in the time since the initiative to build the bridge was taken and the works ended in Romania, five prime ministers were in office.
The decision to build the Calafat-Vidin Bridge was taken under an agreement between the Romanian Government and the Bulgarian Government on technical, financial legal and organisational matters pertaining to the construction of a mixed road and railway border bridge between Romania and Bulgaria over the Danube, signed on June 5, 2000 in Bucharest.
In accordance with the provisions in the framework agreement, Romania pledged to provide funding for the technical project and for building the related infrastructure on Romania's soil.
Bulgaria was to secure funding for the preliminary project of the facility - the bridge proper and two related infrastructure systems running to the connection points with the existing road and railway infrastructures of Romania and Bulgaria, required for the construction of the bridge, including the technical project and the construction of the related infrastructure on Bulgaria's soil, which also included the conduct of an environmental impact study.
According to the joint obligations of the two contracting parties, each party was to provide the land for the bridge that was to be exempted from real rights or other ownership rights from third parties, including over the existing facilities and installations related to the bridge, and also to facilitate access to the bridge, in accordance with the construction schedule.
The Romanian Government also mentions that Romania has secured the funding for the technical project and the related infrastructure that provides access to the bridge on Romania's soil and the initial funding was 70,591,324.7 euros, 66,900,285.7 euros of which were for construction works, to which additional amounts were added to make up for the delays of Bulgaria.
The works on the bridge incumbent on Romania are currently 95 percent over, the office reports. The initial deadline for the completion of the bridge was December 2010, but because the feasibility study conducted by Bulgaria was different from the similar study initially conducted by the Bulgarian designer of the bridge, the bridge had to be redesigned, including the works on the Romanian side.
The works carried out by Romania had to be suspended because the deadline for the completion of the Bulgarian side of the bridge had been extended, as the related in structure could not be fuelled by power and the tests on the related railway portion of the bridge could not be conducted, the Romanian Government explains.
The delays of the Bulgarian workers also led to an increase by more than 5 million euros in the bridge costs incurred on Romania that included costs with the conservation works, site works, security and the extension of consultanc services. The costs had to be borne from the national budget.