Serbia and Bulgaria sign memorandums on cooperation in rail and water transport – Joint application for EU funds enabled

Memorandums on cooperation in rail and water transport between Serbia and Bulgaria, entailing the possibility of joint application for EU funds, were signed in Sofia on Friday, February 23, 2018.

During the official visit of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to Bulgaria, the memorandums were signed by the ministers of transport, Zorana Mihajlovic and Ivaylo Moskovski, the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of Serbia announced.

The goals of the Memorandum of understanding between Serbia and Bulgaria on upgrading the efficiency of rail transport are cooperation in projects, a more efficient border procedure and potential joint applications for funds of the EU and international financial institutions for projects along the Pan-European Transport Corridor 10.

The Memorandum of understanding and cooperation in development of port infrastructure on the Danube for reloading, storage and distribution of liquefied natural gas enables harmonization with the EU regulations. The first step will be the preparation of a feasibility study, possibly along with applying for grants from the EU funds.

Mihajlovic also signed the Memorandum of understanding and cooperation of the ministries of Serbia and Bulgaria in charge of labor and social policy, Beta reports.

Serbia has increased its exports to Bulgaria by 53%.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said during the visit to Bulgaria that the economic exchange and trade between Serbia and Bulgaria was growing year by year and that it had reached the amount of USD 1 million for the first time, Tanjug reports.

– I'm talking about the export from Serbia to Bulgaria, which has increased by 53% in only year, and the export from Bulgaria to Serbia has increased by 28%, which speaks to a great progress in our economic relations – Vucic said after a meeting with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev.

He pointed out that it was very important for Serbia to complete the highway section up to the Gradina border crossing and that it was necessary for Bulgaria to also complete its section up to Sofia.

– Our intention is to carry out the re-electrification and full modernization of the Nis-Dimitrovgrad railway, in which we will invest EUR 270 million. This will further strengthen our bonds and lead to additional infrastructural connections – the president of Serbia emphasized.

Serbia, he said, is to start building interconnectors between Bulgaria and Serbia, as well as a pipeline between Dimitrovgrad and Nis, as it expects to receive most of its gas from the direction of Bulgaria in the period following 2019. The gas is to be further transported to Hungary, Austria and other countries of the region.

– At the same time, it is very important to us to have more and more Bulgarian businessmen in Serbia and that all the Bulgarian investments since 2010 have been very successful. We are grateful to these people for the good investments and for employing people in Serbia – Vucic emphasized.

Considering the economic situation in Serbia, he said that he hoped that there would be more possibilities for Serbian investors to invest in Bulgaria in the next period.

Vucic believes that many Serbian and Bulgarian public enterprises and companies, even those in the military industry, can find room for joint projects, so as to penetrate third markets, Tanjug reports.

Ministarstvo građevinarstva, saobraćaja i infrastrukture Republike Srbije

Predsedništvo Republike Srbije

Ministry of Construction of Bulgaria

Zorana Mihajlovic

Aleksandar Vucic

Ivaylo Moskovski

Rumen Radev

export of Serbia to Bulgaria

import of Serbia from Bulgaria

Nis Dimitrovgrad railway

highway to Bulgaria

Gradina border crossing

Dimitrovgrad Nis pipeline

gas interconnector between Bulgaria and Serbia

military industry

Memorandum of understanding between Serbia and Bulgaria on upgrading the efficiency of rail transport

Memorandum of understanding and cooperation in development of port infrastructure on the Danube