South Stream Transport signs storage, handling deal with Bulgarian sea ports Dutch-based South Stream Transport B.V., a joint venture established for the planning, construction and operation of the offshore section of the South Stream gas pipeline through the Black Sea, said on Wednesday it has signed an option agreement for the storage and handling of pipe segments with the Bulgarian sea ports of Varna and Burgas. The offshore section of the South Stream will consist of four parallel pipelines through the Black Sea, each made up of over 75,000 pipe segments. As South Stream Transport has identified suitable storage areas at the port of Burgas, the port of Varna East and the port of Varna West, the pipes will be stored in so-called marshalling yards at harbours on the shore in Bulgaria, and shipped to specialized pipe-laying vessels when construction starts in 2014, South Stream Transport said in a press release. The ports may be used for marshalling yards and related logistics services during pipeline construction, for a period of four to six years. “The marshalling yards in Bulgaria will play a key role in the logistics for laying the offshore pipeline and we are very happy to have come to an agreement with the two Bulgarian ports,” Oleg Aksyutin, CEO of South Stream Transport, said. The Gazprom-spearheaded South Stream pipeline will supply natural gas from Russia to central and southeastern Europe. Its offshore part will run from Russia's Black Sea shore across the Turkish exclusive economic zone to the Bulgarian cost near Varna and will consist of four pipeline strings with annual capacity expected to reach 63 billion cubic metres. Commercial operation is scheduled to start by the end of 2015. The Bulgarian section of the project will be approximately 236 kilometers in length. It runs from the border between the Turkish and the Bulgarian exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea, to the landfall in Bulgaria. From there, natural gas will be transported through the country by South Stream Bulgaria AD and further by other joint ventures into Southeast and Central Europe.
Source: Capital (16.01.2014)

Bulgarian Posts face loss of BGN 15 million in 2013: minister Bulgarian Posts faced a loss of BGN 15 million in 2013 if the subsidy is not taken into consideration. Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Danail Papazov announced the news at a press conference, FOCUS News Agency reported. BGN 223 million were invested in the National Railway Infrastructure Company in 2013 and BGN 16 million - in Varna Port. Sofia Airport made a profit of BGN 12.7 million last year and Varna Port handled 10.8 million tonnes of cargo, which is a record high since it opened.
Source: Agency Focus (17.01.2014)

Bulgaria's transport min says Varna, Burgas port operators beat forecasts for 2013 The state-owned operators of the ports of Varna and Burgas on the Black Sea coast have beaten forecasts for 2013, the country's transport ministry said on Thursday. The port of Varna’s 2013 profit is seen at BGN 4.8 million, which is 90% above plans and 16% above the 2012 figures, the ministry said in a press release. The port of Varna handled 11 million tonnes of cargo in 2013, which is a record level for the past few years, according the the press release. Meanwhile, the port of Burgas’ estimate net profit of BGN 3.5 million is also well above the previous expectations of BGN 510,000 in earnings, the ministry said. The port operator posted BGN 20.6 million in revenue, up 5.3% on forecasts. Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company’s profit for 2013 amounted to BGN 18 million on an estimate revenue of BGN 73 million, the ministry said, without providing comparative figures. The company invested a total of BGN 12 million in 2013, up by over BGN 2.0 million from a year earlier. On the other hand, the cargo handled at the port of Ruse on the Danube river last year decreased 20.5% year-on-year to 595,000 tonnes, the transport ministry added, without providing information on the financial results.
Source: mediapool.bg (17.01.2014)

Michelin exported via port Bourgas Ports of Varna and Bourgas are to attract cargo from Serbia, Macedonia and other countries that have no sea outlet, such as Hungary and Slovakia. For the purpose though their link to other types of transport has to be improved. Transport Minister said that numerous projects focused on removing bottlenecks at ports are prepared for the next program period. Modernization of railway line Plovdiv-Bourgas and Ruse-Varna is planned, as the second will establish a comprehensive logistics network "river - rail - sea" through the development of multi-modal terminals in Ruse and Varna. Connecting ports of Varna and Bourgas is to be completed by 2020 after modernization of railway line Karnobat-Sindel. Representative of Michelin factory also expressed interest in exporting through port Bourgas. The Serbian-based plant has invested nearly EUR 200 million. It is ready to export huge quality of car types via the Bulgarian sea port. The Pirot-based factory produces 12 million tyres annually, as plans are production to go up to 20 million.
Source: Standart (29.01.2014)

New Varna port’s intermodal terminal built for BGN 150-200 million Assignment for design of the new intermodal terminal that is to be built in Varna has already been handed out in Ministry of transport, CEO of Varna port announced. Total value for completion of the terminal is to the amount of BGN 150-200 million. BGN 15 million has already been insured by the government. The facility is located in the region of the old railway station and the ex- factory Hristo Botev in Varna. Within the project five places for ships will be built. Two of them are envisaged for grain loads, two for containers and one for general cargo. The new quay wall will be 1100 meters long.
Source: money.bg (19.02.2014)

Bulgaria to Start Building Intermodal Terminal in Varna in 2015 The construction of the new intermodal terminal in Bulgaria's Black Sea city of Varna may start in 2015, according to Transport Minister Danail Papazov. Speaking Monday in Varna, Papazov noted that a working group was preparing the terms of reference of the facility. He said that the results of the work of the experts were to be available by the end of March. Papazov, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA), argued that the intermodal terminal would have special quays for processing containers and grain. He told journalists that the designing of the facility would absorb around BGN 15 M. The activities for the construction of the intermodal terminal in Varna started in the summer of 2013. Bulgaria's Transport Ministry proposed that the terminal include Port Varna Iztok (Varna East) and railway station Varna and that the two be united in a complex. The project is to use state funding and revenues of Port Varna and State Enterprise Port Infrastructure. Papazov explained Monday that the ports in Varna and Burgas had signed preliminary contracts related to the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline. He announced that the ports could offer services related to the logistics of the implementation of the gas pipeline project, adding that the Bulgarian State Railway Company (BDZ) could also be assigned such tasks. Papazov assured that there was no need to beef up security at Bulgarian ports due to the current situation in Ukraine, stressing that the safety of the facilities had been guaranteed.
Source: investor.bg (11.03.2014)

Russian businessman ready to invest 3.0 bln euro in Bulgaria’s Varna port Russian businessman Andrian Sinebok is willing to invest EUR 3.0 billion in the infrastructure of the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Varna under a possible concession arrangement, Sofia-based media reported on Thursday. Apart from an overhaul and expansion of the Varna port, the Russian businessman's plan envisages the launch of a ferry line to Russia and the reconstruction of the railway track between Varna and Ruse, on the Danube, and the highway linking the two cities, daily newspaper Standart reported. The Russian businessman recently presented his investment plans before Bulgaria's prime minister Plamen Oresharski, deputy prime minister Daniela Bobeva and transport minister Danail Papazov.
Source: Standart (27.03.2014)

Construction of New Coastal Station at Port Varna Kicks Off Bulgarian Transport Minister Danail Papazov has turned the first on a new coastal station at Port Varna. Papazov informed that the investment in the construction of the two coastal stations at Port Varna and Port Burgas amounted to over BGN 4 M. He pointed out that the amount of processed cargo at Port Varna since the beginning of 2014 had increased by over 2%. He said that the navigable channels were to be deepened and that new equipment for Port Varna-East was to be purchased. Papazov also noted that the documentation for the new intermodal terminal at the port was being wrapped up. He said that the Transport Ministry was hoping that the competition would attract big designers that would be capable of completing the construction documentation for the new port and of preparing at least two projects for the recreational zone which would be located in the region of the old Port Varna-East.
Source: investor.bg (22.04.2014)

Projects for port Varna from all over the world International auction for the best projects for construction of new intermodal complex in Varna will be announced within days of the Transport Ministry, said Minister Danail Papazov during the presentation of the planned relocation of the port and connecting the city with the sea. New port facilities - container and grain terminal, 150-thousand-ton silo will be built in the Maksuda district on properties that are publicly owned and managed by enterprises to the transport ministry. This year were won BGN 15 million from the ‘Regions in Growth’ Find that will go for the technical project after the international competition. Intentions next year are ‘Regions in Growth’ to give the government BGN 90 million for the construction of a new quay wall, with which actually begin all constructions of the new intermodal terminal in Varna, explained Minister Papazov .
Source: Standart (28.04.2014)

Bulgarian provider of express delivery services Speedy will replace construction company Holding Roads in the BGBX 40 and BGBXTR 40 indices of the local stock exchange, the bourse operator said. The change will become effective as of June 20, the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) said in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday. Holding Roads said on Tuesday it has been declared insolvent, its activity has been terminated and its property placed under distraint. BGBX 40 is a price index that tracks 40 issues of common shares with the greatest number of transactions and the highest median value of the daily turnover during the last six months.
Source: Capital (20.06.2014)

South Stream: Pipes continue to arrive, despite the project was officially frozen in Bulgaria The European Commission said Thursday (21 August) that it was aware that a video reveals that room has been made at Bulgaria's Varna harbour for pipes to be used for the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline, in spite of the assurances by the country's government that the project has been frozen, Euractiv reports. A video published by Dnevnik, the EurActiv partner in Bulgaria, shows workers at the Varna harbour amid pipes delivered for the South Stream pipeline, making room for further arrivals. According to Dnevnik, the first batch of pipes have arrived by sea on 14 August. They had been brought from Germany, as they were produced by the company Europipe. A caretaker government in Sofia, which took office on 6 August, has frozen the construction of South Stream, following clear indications from Brussels that the EU executive would impose infringements on Bulgaria, unless the country re-negotiates its bilateral agreement with Russia for the construction of the pipeline, which is in breach of EU law.
Source: Dnevnik (22.08.2014)