Export of Million Tons of Serbian Agricultural Products by the Danube Jeopardized – Ministry Seeking Contractor for Urgent Dredging in Critical Sectors in Bulgaria

The ministry of construction, transport and infrastructure of Serbia has opened the negotiation procedure without a public call for the execution of the works on the technical maintenance of the navigable Danube waterway in the zone under the responsibility of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Let us remind that the Government of Bulgaria has accepted the help offered by Serbia in the form of mechanization which will execute intervention dredging on the Danube as soon as next week. In July, in the Belene sector in Bulgaria, there was a full halt in sailing on the Danube, and then, in August, problems occurred in several other sectors of the Danube within the responsibility of Bulgaria.

– This problem has made the situation more difficult regarding the securing of the energy stability of Serbia for the upcoming winter, considering that, for the purposes of the operations of thermal power plants, the procurement of a considerable quantity of coal from countries in the region was done, whereby the majority of the coal is transported by water, that is by the rivers Danube and Sava from Bulgaria and Romania – the tendering documentation says.

In addition to the transport of coal, it is added, the halt of sailing on the Danube in Bulgaria has also led to a halt in the supply of significant quantities of primarily Eurodiesel from the Port of Constanta to Serbia.

– This problem could further deepen unless the navigability of the Danube on the downstream part in Bulgaria is secured. Furthermore, considerable quantities of agricultural products (the estimate is close to a million tons) are planned to be exported by the Danube to the Port of Constanta, as well as certain quantities of artificial fertilizer, and the stability in the supply of raw materials for the operations of the Smederevo steel mill needs to be secured as well, which gets large quantities of coke and other resources by the Danube from the direction of the Port of Constanta – it is explained.

The Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, in the capacity of the financier, therefore has to select, as soon as possible, a contractor that would do the urgent dredging works in the critical sectors, and that is why a negotiation procedure without a public invitation is chosen.

The job is estimated at RSD 208.33. More details HERE.

It is added that the Serbian ministry and the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Bulgaria are to urgently sign the Agreement on cooperation on the technical maintenance of the Danube waterway, whereby the Serbian side obliges to carry out the dredging works, that is, to secure the technical mechanization required for the execution of the works and to provide the funds necessary for their operations.

– The ministry has already sent technical mechanization to several critical sectors for sailing on the Danube and the Sava, where the waterways have narrowed down or the depth has been reduced, making sailing unsafe. At the moment, dredging works are being done in three critical sectors, so as to get the full waterway, even under the conditions of the current water levels, which go up to 60 cm below the lowest navigable level – the tender says.

B. P.

Ministarstvo građevinarstva, saobraćaja i infrastrukture Republike Srbije

Ministry of Transport and Communications of Bulgaria

Government of Bulgaria

Danube

Port of Constanta

Smederevo steel mill

Belene sector

artificial fertilizer

Danube navigability

coke

agricultural products

Eurodiesel

coal

export of grains

import of coal