Turkey and Greece seek bypass around Bulgarian transport chaos

Transport operators from Turkey and Greece have united around the idea of finding an alternative corridor to bypass Bulgaria because of the ongoing transport chaos in the country, the Chamber of the Bulgarian Road Hauliers (CBRH) has said.

The Bulgarian association announced that the issue was discussed at the 44th General Assembly of the Union of Road Transport Associations in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Region (BSEC-URTA), held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

In addition to concerns raised by Turkey and Greece, "strong and sharp" interventions by BSEC-UTRA and the International Road Transport Union (IRU) made it clear that "all possible measures" should be taken to resolve the problems in Bulgaria, the CBRH added.

Vehicle disinfection procedures, paid for by drivers, were reintroduced by the Sofia government at the Kapitan Andreevo and Lesovo border crossings with Turkey in July. The Kapitan Andreevo crossing is the second busiest land border in the world.

The Turkish side is expected to introduce similar measures soon, which is likely to cause further congestion.

BSEC-UTRA described the measures as “unfair, time-consuming, costly and useless,” which “seriously harm logistics chains in the Black Sea region.”

Bulgaria has been accused by its own transport companies of applying double standards to parking and disinfection fees at its borders.

National media have raised questions in recent months about the car park at Danube Bridge 2 on the Bulgarian-Romanian border, allegedly owned by organisations with historical criminal links, but the Bulgarian Interior Ministry has so far taken no action to address it.

"The shame felt by the Bulgarian organisations present at the event (in Tashkent) is at the expense of the state," the CBRH stressed, adding that the "accusations" against Bulgaria by the Turkish and Greek associations were "justified".

On the same day, Bulgarian Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov met with the Turkish ambassador in Sofia, Mehmet Sait Uyanak, where the two discussed, among other things, the renovation of the Kapitan Andreevo crossing.

In 2024, record numbers of passenger vehicles were reported at the crossing - between 5,000 and 9,000 per day entering Turkey and between 3,500 and 5,500 entering Bulgaria.

(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)