Sofia Airport is working and no flights have been cancelled. Plovdiv Airport is also working. The weather permits aircraft to land and take off. The airports in the seaside cities of Varna and Burgas have been closed due to fog, the press center of the Transport Ministry announced. The Port of Varna was closed at 22.00 on Monday due to dense fog. The Port of Burgas is open. The port complex in the northern town of Ruse, ferryboat Vidin-Calafat and the Port of Vidin are working in winter conditions. So are the ports in the northern towns of Lom, Oryahovo, Somovit, Svishtov and Silistra.
Source: Agency Focus (16.01.2008)

A special entry point at the Varna-West port will soon be designated for incoming containerised cargo trucks , said port executive director Danail Papazov. The port will also add a new center for the computerised processing of containerised cargo that will employ a company-developed software. The platform will enable shipment tracking in real time as well as online connection between the port, the forwarders, the customs and border control administrations and the container operators.
Source: Dnevnik (22.01.2008)

Profits at state-owned maritime carrier NMB rose by 16.3 mln to 35.1 mln levs in 2007, the Bulgarian transport ministry said on Monday. The company is currently undergoing a privatisation procedure. The state-owned airports made a profit of 21 mln levs last year, said the ministry. The Sofia International Airport was the top-performer with a profit of 20.7 mln levs. However, that represents a 8.6% fall on 2006. In contrast to the state airports, the sea ports in Varna and Burgas recorded a 10% drop in revenue on a weaker traffic of grain shipments. The Danube ports in Ruse, Vidin and Lom all turned in a profit in 2007. Property disposals enabled national railway carrier BDZ to record a profit of 10 mln levs last year despite a 4.8% decline in cargo traffic, said the transport ministry. Passenger numbers are also down on 2006. The loss at the National Railway Infrastructure Company widened by 12 mln year-on-year to 72 mln levs.
Source: Dnevnik (29.01.2008)

Japan is willing to finance the expansion of Port Varna and Port of Bourgas according to Austrian media. The investments will be worth USD 370 mln. Both ports would like to increase their role as cargo terminals of the Black Sea. So far Japan has granted credits of total value USD 840 mln for different economic projects in Bulgaria.
Source: Agency Focus (07.02.2008)

Japanese government will allot EUR 235 mln loan to Bulgaria for the construction of container manipulation terminals at Port Varna – East and Port Bourgas – West. The deciosion was announced yesterday after a meeting between the Japanese ambassador Tzuneharu Takeda and Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivaylo Kalfin. The loan is granted by the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation and the project is planned to be finished in 2015.
Source: Sega (12.02.2008)

Kremikovtzi prepares an action plan for ending the crisis Kremikovtzi is considering an action plan for ending the crisis, was made clear after the latest meeting of the company Board of Directors. The plan foresees clients of the steelmaker to open accredited accounts to NEC, Bulgargaz and Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) for realization of ready products. Currently Kremikovtzi is overrun by output that cannot be realized as BDZ refuses to transport shipments in and out the steel plant. Tons of resources are stockpiles at Port Bourgas and Port Lom. Kremikovtzi does not have enough funds to pay Bulgargaz as well, and this is why the plant operates at minimum capacity. It is essential that the entities on the matter find a solution as soon as possible, commented the Deputy Minister of Economy and Energy Nina Radeva. According to informed sources, the steelmaker has done business mainly with the UK-based Stemcor. The British company has both supplied resources to Kremikovtzi and realized the production of the mill. Stemcor has made the payments to NEC, Bulgargaz and BDZ. Often the payments have been delayed which led to the tension.
Source: Trud (07.03.2008)

The containerised cargo terminals at the Bulgarian Black Sea ports of Varna and Burgas will be commissioned into operation in October 2014, said transport minister Petar Mutafchiev. The project will receive a 226.14 mln euro loan from the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC). The two countries should sign the final loan agreement by May 19 with the Bulgarian parliament due to ratify the document by the end of June. The headway on the project allows the to start farming out in early August the first project-related activities. Bulgaria will tender the design, construction and site supervision works and will hire a consultant to select operators for the two cargo terminals.
Source: Dnevnik (02.04.2008)

A second new terminal for containerised cargo could be built in Varna, said Danail Papazov, executive director of Varna Port. A 2.0 ha site on Canal 1, which links the Black Sea with the inland Varna lake, has been earmarked as a likely location for the new terminal. The great advantage of the site is that it is located before the Asparuh bridge. Navigation under the bridge is currently limited to an airdraft of 41.5 m which stops bigger containerised cargo carrier from docking at the Varna-West port. The new containerised cargo terminal funded by the Japan Bank for International Co-operation will also be located after the bridge.
Source: Dnevnik (16.04.2008)

BGN 1 million will be used for a large-scale reconstruction of the pier in Varna, said the executive director of Port Varna SPJSC Danail Papazov. A special pontoon quay with nearly 40 seats for the most luxurious yachts will be purchased for approximately EUR 150 000. The platform will have electricity, water, Internet and cable television. The places for smaller boats, laying alongside the quay, will be increased from 50 to 80.
Source: Standart (29.05.2008)

Over 350,000 tons of grain from the '08 crop have been shipped so far from Bulgaria's Black Sea port of Varna, Dnevnik learned from port director Danail Papazov. Grain exports could reach 1 mln tons as shipping activity usually remains robust through September. Just over 250,000 tons were exported in '07 on the back of a drought-affected crop. The International Grain Council has forecast Bulgaria to harvest 5.8 mln tons of grain this year. Domestic consumption is estimated at 2.5-2.6 mln tons annually. In related news, the Sofia commodity exchange said that this year's milling wheat crop is close to 4.2 mln tons.
Source: Dnevnik (04.08.2008)

Hungarian companies want to participate in the implementation of the project for moving Port Varna-East, it became clear after the meeting between the mayor of the sea capital Kiril Yordanov and the Ambassador of Hungary to Bulgaria Judith Lang. According an idea, launched 2 years ago, the cargo areas of the port of Varna, situated near the railway station, almost in the town centre, will be moved into the area of the Maksuda quarter, and the free land will be developed as an urban recreation area.
Source: mediapool.bg (15.08.2008)

An Israeli company and a leading container operator with experience in port management have declared interest in participation in the construction of the new container terminal in Varna and in the relocation of the ex-port Varna-East. The terminal, along with the one in Bourgas, have to be put into operations until 2014. A report informed that the companies are interested in a concession of the new terminal. According to the contract, signed between the Council of Ministers and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the concession form would be clear in April, 2010, and after this date a concessionaire may be chosen. Hungarian and German companies have declared some interest in participation in various phases of the port re-location.
Source: Dnevnik (09.09.2008)

Bulgaria's Varna-West Port Opens New Container Terminal The new terminal at the Varna-West Port has a platform for loading and unloading containers, entrance checkpoint for heavy trucks, a computerized system and center for managing the work flow. The completion of the first stage of the new terminal at the Varna-West port was marked by an official inauguration ceremony in the presence of Bulgaria' Transport Minister Petar Mutafchiev and the German Ambassador to Sofia Michael Geier. The ceremony began at 10:30 am on Monday at the Varna-West Port. Other participants included local politicians, representatives of the maritime business and of the German company suppling the equipment for the new terminal, and clients of the port. The ceremony included the inauguration and putting in operation of the new 100-ton mobile crane, recently purchased from Germany and other port equipment. The new terminal has a platform for loading and unloading containers, entrance checkpoint for heavy trucks, a computerized system and center for managing the work flow. The total investment amount is estimated at BGN 11,300. With the new equipment the Varna-West port would be able to process the huge container traffic, which just in 2008 has increased by 60%.
Source: Darik Radio (03.11.2008)

The Ministry of Transport is expecting no later than the end of the month the position of the cluster Varna-west about the concession of the joint terminal of the same port, announced Minister Petar Mutafchiev. Four years ago the industrial grouping involving Solvay-Sodi JSC, Agropolychim JSC, Devnya Cement JSC, Kaolin JSC and Kumerio demanded its concession by rights. The government then did not respond to their request. Now, because of the global financial crisis first the position of Devnya Cement JSC will be tested. It provides about 80 percent of all cargo of Varna-west.
Source: Dnevnik (04.11.2008)

Port Varna EAD reported BGN 2,5 M profit for 2008 as the global financial crisis have not hit the largest Bulgarian port yet . The port handled 7. 65 million tons of freight in 2008 as 8 million tons more are expected to pass through it until the end of the year, manager of the company, Danail Papazov said. Due to fears over the deepening global financial crisis, the company has prepared an anti-crisis programme, which includes expenditure cuts and less investments but does not envisage staff reduction. The port said they expect a decrease in freight volumes in the beginning of 2009 due to slowing production from big factories, as well as decrease in Chinese cargo shipments.
Source: Darik Radio (23.12.2008)