The prospects for the development of Port Burgas were discussed by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Danail Papazov, the General Director of SE “Port Infrastructure” Angel Zaburtov, representatives of EA “Maritime Administration” and “Port Burgas” JSC with the governor of Burgas region and the mayor of the municipality.
The main focus of the discussions was the need to seek a balance between the expectations of Burgas residents for the development of the public access zone, which has gained popularity as “Super Burgas”, and the interests of the maritime business and the hundreds of workers and employees in the port.
The future of Port Burgas is linked to its development and expansion as an external border of the EU and one of the significant market gateways to the eastern economies unaffected by the crisis. The General Plan of Port Burgas provides for the construction of new terminals and expansion of the currently existing capacities.
Port Burgas plays a key role in the trans-European transport network. Significant EU investment resources and Operational Programme “Transport” are directed towards building road and railway infrastructure from and to Burgas precisely because of the opportunity for developing intermodal transport, which is also the modern trend.
On the other hand, in recent years active work has been carried out on implementing the idea of opening the port to the city and developing a public access zone at the expense of port terminals that fall within the central part of Burgas. A comprehensive concept has been developed for building a modern city center on the territories freed from port activities. Currently, with funds from OP “Transport” 2007-2013, a legal and financial analysis of the possibilities for managing such territories is being prepared. The beneficiary of the project is SE “Port Infrastructure”.
The meeting participants united around the idea that for the future development of the city as a modern communication center, possible reasonable solutions must be found and mutual complementarity between the two development trends of the region – maritime transport and tourism – must be sought.
The institutions involved in the process will assist in seeking alternative solutions that do not affect the port’s functions, do not limit the possibilities for attracting cargo and at the same time allow the development of public zones, in the interest of citizens and guests of the city.
By the end of the year, SEPI will complete the implementation of a project funded under OP “Transport”, within which analyses of cargo flows from and to Bulgarian ports are being prepared and a concept for their development is to be developed. The results of the project will provide an opportunity to refine future decisions for building new terminals at Burgas port. The need to conduct socio-economic analyses of the impact of different alternatives was also noted.