In the presence of the Deputy Ministers of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Petar Kirov and Anton Ginev, a contract was signed for expanding the scope of services of the River Information System in the Bulgarian section of the Danube River – BULRIS.
The project establishes the national component of a Common European System for ensuring efficient and safe navigation on inland waterways and is financed by Operational Programme “Transport” 2007 – 2013. The beneficiary of the project is State Enterprise “Port Infrastructure”.
“The project is of exceptional importance for both Bulgaria and all European countries,” said Deputy Minister Petar Kirov. He added that improving navigation conditions on the Danube River is linked to a comprehensive package of measures that the MTITC is undertaking for the development of both river and rail transport, in accordance with EU priorities for promoting green modes of transport. “In the next programming period, under the ‘Connecting Europe Facility’, we will apply jointly with Romania for the implementation of a project to improve navigation conditions in the critical sections of the river,” announced Petar Kirov. Among the projects significant for the development of river navigation are also the projects for the construction of an intermodal terminal in Ruse, as well as the rehabilitation of the Ruse – Varna railway line.
The “BULRIS” project aims to enhance navigation safety along the Bulgarian section of the Danube River and to minimize instances of river pollution. The project contributes to better utilization of the Danube River as a main inland waterway of the EU and to the development of logistics and transport chains crossing Bulgaria. Within the first phase of the project, the necessary technological infrastructure has already been built at 16 communication points located along the Danube River in the regions of Vidin, Montana, Vratsa, Pleven, Veliko Tarnovo, Ruse, and Silistra. Currently, tests are being conducted on the system, which is expected to be put into operation in early 2014.
With today’s signing of the contract, the expansion of the system and the scope of services is entrusted to Consortium “BUL RIS 2”, which unites the companies “Transas Marine International AB” – Sweden, “Transas Mediterranean SAS” – France, and the Bulgarian “Telelink”. The consortium partners specialize in the design and construction of systems for vessel traffic management and control, radar tracking, and data exchange between vessels and shore services. The companies are among the leading in Europe in the development of specialized equipment for training operators of navigation and maritime safety systems. The value of the contract for expanding the “BULRIS” system is BGN 9,494,000. The implementation period is 18 months. The beneficiary of the project is State Enterprise “Port Infrastructure”.
