Bulgarian Minister of Transport Alexander Tsvetkov has expressed his satisfaction on the positive outcomes of two days of talks with his Turkish counterparts.

Tsvetkov has commented on Friday on progress made at the 22nd meeting of the Bulgarian-Turkish Commission on Transport, held in Ankara.

During the two-day work of the Commission, the Minister said, the situation and prospects of rail, water, air and road transport were discussed in comprehensive detail.

"The talks reflect the willingness and political will of both sides to cooperate in resolving the transport issues that have arisen between us, and are a good sign for the development of bilateral relations," Tsvetkov added.

Representatives of professional road transport organizations have expressed their satisfaction with the negotiations, because they achieved over 80% of their requests.

An agreed quota has been agreed for all types of transit and bilateral traffic between the two countries. Similarly, quotas for transit to a third country have been doubled.

To benefit commercial road operators, authorization limits for driving empty cargo vehicles into Turkey, loading them and returning to Bulgaria, have been increased by 40%, to 17 000.

Bulgaria and Turkey have agreed for ferryboat connections to be developed by opening regular ferry lines between Varna and the Turkish Black Sea ports of Samsun and Zonguldak.

Joint cooperation for the expansion of combined rail transport between the two countries was also agreed. Turkey has expressed its readiness to join the Ro-La system that Bulgaria is developing in the Svilengrad-Dragoman region.

(The Ro–La transport system is a specific combined transport technology (Road-Rail-Road), in which complete truck-trailer combinations or semi-trailers are transported on special low loader railcars, using horizontal reloading technology.)

This initiative will transfer part of the Turkish heavy goods traffic in transit through Bulgaria from the roads to the railway system.

As for air transport, the scope and number of flights between Bulgaria and Turkey will be enhanced, and restrictions on air freight will be removed.

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