Bulgarian Ports (1879 – 2014)
The book “Bulgarian Ports (1879 – 2014). A Chronicle” was published on the initiative of the Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company to mark 135 years of port activities in Bulgaria. For the first time, it compiles the main dates and events from the history of Bulgarian sea ports (on the Black Sea and Aegean Sea) and Danube ports. Its author is Dr. Atanas Panayotov, a historian and renowned maritime publicist and researcher.
The 200-page publication presents all known and little-known facts from the history of Bulgarian Black Sea and Danube ports. The chronicle of Bulgarian ports includes the entire photographic archive related to their construction and development.
Here are some interesting facts about the creation and administration of Bulgarian ports:
The first state port administrative structure, formed after Bulgaria’s liberation from Turkish rule, was the Port Captaincy in Varna. It was established on
On May 18, 1903, the modern port of Burgas was consecrated and opened in a ceremonial setting. After Prince Ferdinand’s speech, artillery salutes were fired from the training cruiser “Nadezhda” and from a coastal battery. The newly appointed Prime Minister Racho Stoyanov, the Minister of Public Buildings, Roads and Communications Dimitar Popov, the leadership of the National Assembly, and representatives of local authorities were present. The Metropolitan of Sliven, Gervasius, officiated a solemn prayer service.
The costs incurred for the construction of the Port of Burgas amounted to about 7 million gold leva. Its seaside breakwater is 1,138 meters long. The port has two quays: a coastal one, 305 meters long with the capacity to accommodate three steamships, and a seaside quay 236 meters long with the capacity for two steamships. The newly built port of Burgas can handle over 300,000 tons of various cargo in total.
The construction of the modern port of Burgas helped orient Bulgarian economic production towards Western Europe. Exports to Belgium surpassed those to Turkey. Exports to England, Spain, and France showed strong growth. The first years of operation of the Port of Burgas were also the first lessons for the Bulgarian port administration in this direction.
On May 18, 1906, the modern port of Varna was officially opened, its construction having continued with minor interruptions for about 10 years. The day was not chosen randomly – it was Prince Ferdinand’s name day (on the same date three years earlier, the Port of Burgas was opened). The ceremony included 23 military and civilian ships, of which 20 were foreign. 300 official guests and the entire diplomatic corps in the country were invited to the event. The opening was saluted with 21 cannon shots, given by foreign warships and a coastal battery located on the quay. With the construction of the modern port of Varna, Bulgarian imports and exports received another wide-open door to the world. In 1906, 1,296 Bulgarian, 134 Austro-Hungarian, 77 English, 71 German, 131 Greek, 5 Italian, 60 Russian, 537 Turkish, and 49 French vessels arrived here.
On June 20, 1906, the tender for the construction of a new port in Ruse was held. The construction project was modified so that the quay wall would be inclined everywhere. Construction work began after September 1907. It opened for operation at the end of 1912. The state spent 1,168,640 leva on the construction of the new port of Ruse. The significant achievement here was the construction of a coastal retaining wall about 2,000 meters long and the embankments behind it, creating an equally long and on average 25-30 meters wide strip.
On March 10, 1908, the tender for the construction of the port of Svishtov was held. On March 28 of the same year, the contract was signed with the contractor. By the beginning of the Balkan War, the construction of the loading area with a length of 250 meters was completed, as well as part of the high quay with a length of 200 meters.
On November 18, 1908, the Port of Vidin was opened for operation, for the construction of which Bulgaria allocated 412,514 gold leva. The tender for this port was held on July 18, 1898, and a week later the contract for its construction was signed.
In 1922, the first stage of construction of the new port of Lom began, which was completed in 1923.
On December 28, 2005, the official court registration of the Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company was carried out. The new formation is the legal successor of the National Company “Ports”, abolished by a decision of the Constitutional Court, and part of the Executive Agency “Port Administration”. BPI Co. is registered in accordance with the provisions of the Commercial Law, and all types of fees: quay, tonnage, canal, and light, are collected by the enterprise. Until the formation of BPI Co., these fees went directly to the state budget, and only a small part of them was returned in the form of investments in port infrastructure. With the restructuring, the entire amount received is reinvested back into maintaining and developing the ports.
You can download the entire chronicle of Bulgarian ports from the button below: