Transport minister gives definitive June 14 opening date for new Romania - Bulgaria Danube bridge

Romania's Transport Minister Relu Fenechiu has given a definitive June 14 date for the opening of the new bridge over the Danube between Romania and Bulgaria. The project has already seen several delays, but this time, Romania's Transport Minister assures, the official deadline will be observed. “Work is almost complete, there are several technical details which will be resolved in the near future,” said Fenechiu. The Minister also confirmed that the toll for drivers will be EUR 6, the same as the Giurgiu/Rusu bridge. Romania and Bulgaria signed off the project for a second bridge over the Danube in 2000, but work was delayed due to a lack of funds. Construction finally began in 2007 and was originally scheduled for completion in 2010. Since then, several finalization dates have been and gone. The 1,791-meter Calafat – Vidin bridge will have two traffic lanes in each direction, a railway line, two sidewalks and a bicycle track. The total cost of the project has reached EUR 300 million, according to local media estimates. Romania has contributed a little over EUR 70 million, with a fifty-fifty split of government money and EU pre-accession funds. This most recent date corroborates the Romanian PM's remarks made at the end of April this year. Bulgaria, which invested EUR 226 million – or 80 percent of the total in the bridge – will have the majority of the revenues from the bridge toll. The toll system will have a display in Romanian, Bulgarian and English. The bridge was built by Spanish company FCC, which also built the Basarab overpass in the Romanian capital Bucharest, in partnership with Astaldi. editor@romania-insider.com