Infrastructure: Commissioner Adina Valean: Romania presented project for Giurgiu-Ruse II bridge

Romania presented a project for Giurgiu-Ruse II bridge, as answer for the call for projects on military mobility, said Adina Valean, the European commissioner for transports on Thursday.   She mentioned that Romania applied for a bridge with railway option. The value of the feasibility study is 6 million euros.   “We financed with 570 million euros the railway connection Bucharest-Giurgiu, because it was a Romanian project, as part of a corridor which must continue to the south. Therefore, the European Commission cannot understand why we do not have a more solid project for a new Bucharest-Giurgiu railway bridge, but we are assured an intention exists and the new Giurgiu-Ruse bridge will be designed with a railway component. At present there is a special pressure on this border crossing point. This situation is valid for all border crossing points in many part of Europe, especially for non Schengen countries Romania and Bulgaria so I think a very intelligent and efficient organization of the way in which road transporters queing at the border can cross more rapidly is needed,”Valean declared.   After two decades since the project was announced, Bulgaria and Romania began real actions to build the third bridge over the Danube, the press office of the Bulgarian minister of transports and communications informed, according to BTA.   The two countries presented the European Commission a joint project for a feasibility study on the second Ruse-Giurgiu bridge, effectively beginning the process to build a second road and railway bridge over the Danube at Ruse.   Georgi Dvozdeikov, the Bulgarian minister of transports and communications signed a joint engagement letter with the Romanian minister of transports, infrastructure and communications, Sorin Grindeanu, confirming the position of both countries, for which the project is a priority and both governments will work on its implementation. Activities will be coordinated by the Transport Ministries of Bulgaria and Romania. The Bulgarian minister, together with its associate partners the National Railway Infrastructure Company and the Road Infrastructure Agency will make a study on the connecting infrastructure in the country. The Bulgarian financial contribution is 1.4 million euros or 2.73 million leva, of which 50% will be a grant within the Connecting Europe Facility.   Studies will analyse various starting points for the bridge at Ruse and Giurgiu, to facilitate the selection of a technical solution.   In case the project is approved for financing, it will be announced at the beginning of 2024. The calendar provides signing a contract with EC by mid 2023 and financing ways for infrastructure.   Possibilities of using public-private partnership for construction will be analysed, as such mechanism might speed up the full implementaiton of the bridge and could attract additional financing from other sources.  (Photo: Wikipedia)