The new bridge connecting Romania and Bulgaria via the cities of Calafat and Vidin should be ready at the beginning of May and crossing the bridge across the Danube will cost EUR 2 for cars. It will be free for pedestrians and for bicycles, according to Bulgarian media.

For trucks between 3.5 and 7.5 tonnes, the toll will be of EUR 12, and for trucks under 12 tonnes, of EUR 18. Taxes are similar to those for crossing the Ruse - Giurgiu bridge, the other bridge connecting the two countries. They are however much smaller than crossing the Danube via the ferry, which is EUR 92 for trucks.

The Bulgarian Government recently issued a decision which proposes that Parliament approve the agreement between Romania and Bulgaria on a mixed company that would manage the new bridge. Bulgarian media expects this proposal to be among the first to be voted on by the new Parliament, after the elections on May 12.

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. Romania invested some EUR 48 million. The toll system will have a display in Romanian, Bulgarian and English, and the bid for choosing the company that will create the electronic toll system is ongoing, with a deadline for offers on May 7. The system should be created in 20 days, at a cost of some EUR 30,000. 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

(photo source: danubebridge2.com)