The restoration of the railway connection between Bulgaria and Ukraine opens up new opportunities for freight transport and for expanding logistics routes in Eastern and Southeastern Europe. This was the main topic of the meeting between the Minister of Transport and Communications Korman Ismailov and the Ambassador of Ukraine to our country H.E. Olesya Ilashchuk.
“BDZ is ready to carry out freight transport between Bulgaria and Ukraine, including transit through Romania“, said Minister Ismailov. He specified that the specific steps will be discussed at the next meeting of deputy ministers from the three countries.
“The transformation of logistics and transport corridors makes cooperation between Bulgaria and Ukraine even more important“, the minister emphasized, noting that the development of new routes will strengthen ties between the two regions and enhance the sustainability of transport throughout Europe.
The minister added: “The future of the region lies in its full integration into the European Union. This also applies to Ukraine, which is also on the path to its accession.“
He pointed out that the projects for transport connectivity between the Black and Aegean Seas, enshrined in the memorandum signed between Bulgaria, Greece and Romania, strengthen not only regional security, but also the sustainability of the whole of Europe. Ambassador Olesya Ilashchuk noted that Ukraine supports the initiative and sees great potential in it for her country. “Bulgaria's experience in negotiations with the European Union is very valuable to us. We hope for assistance in preparing for the implementation of the criteria in the pre-accession process“, she said.
Minister Ismailov stated that Bulgaria will continue to support Ukraine for more effective transport connections and development of logistics routes.
In response to numerous signals from Bulgarian carriers, the minister insisted on finding a solution for registering Bulgarian buses that are not located on Ukrainian territory in the E-QUEUE electronic system. After the introduction in 2024 of the platform for reserving time slots for passing through the border checkpoints of Ukraine, Bulgarian companies signal that the specifics of the system hinder the performance of passenger transportation. Another issue raised at the meeting was the increased number of violations on Bulgarian roads by Ukrainian vehicles.
For his part, Ambassador Ilashchuk pointed out that owners of Ukrainian vehicles have problems with technical inspections on Bulgarian territory.