The offers of candidate consultants on Danube Bridge 2 project will be opened in public today at the Transport Ministry. According to preliminary information five companies have been shortlisted to bid for the consulting contract for Danube Bridge 2, spanning the river at Vidin and Calafat. The contract with the selected consultant is expected to be concluded till end-September, while the draft on the project has been scheduled for May 2003. The consultant is to prepare a project for the bridge, technical project for the adjoining infrastructure and the tender documentation for the bridge construction and adjoining infrastructure. The consultant is also to assist the Unit for Execution and Management of the Project over a sixty-month period in drawing up a final report on the environmental impact. The maximum cost of the contract with the consultant is set at EUR 5,755 M. Nearly EUR 5 M of them will be provided by the European Union, the remainder will be earmarked from the state budget.