According to the Bulgarian legislation the Minister of Transport manages
and controls the port activity in the Republic of Bulgaria through the
Port Administration Executive Agency. The Port Administration Executive
Agency performs the regulatory and control functions of the state in the
ports. Bulgarian public ports serve mainly the national economy (export
and import of raw materials, consumer goods, highly technological products).
Additionally, they serve transit cargoes due to the strategic geographical
position of Bulgaria in the region -a cross-point between East-West, North-South.
Bulgarian ports offer favorable conditions for inter-modal transport. Passenger
transport is also a key point in the future of Bulgarian public ports.
The Black Sea ports Varna and Bourgas are multipurpose ports with modern
facilities and specialized terminals. The ports are specialized for bulk,
general cargoes, trailers, containers, liquids, liquid chemicals. The existing
depths of the ships berths and the approaches allow the handling of vessels
of capacity up to 50 000 tons and over. Two regular lines connect the Bulgarian
Black Sea ports with Ukraina, Georgia and Russia. The Ferry Complex in
Varna serves the regular line between Varna – Ilichevsk - Poti/Batumi,
thus making the Port of Varna a major logistic center in the region and
the shortest way between Europe and Asia together with the other Ro-Ro
line Bourgas - Poti –Novorossiisk. The two Black Sea ports play a vital
role to the existence and activities along theTrans-European Transport
Corridor VIII and are well placed on the route of TRACECA (Transport Corridor
Europe-Caucasus-Asia). The Danube ports (Rousse, Lom, Vidin) handle bulk
and general cargoes and serve transit cargoes and passenger transport.
They have well enough open and covered storage areas. There are several
ferry lines crossing the Danube, mainly in Rousse and Vidin. Many of the
public ports terminals are undergoing concession procedures.
http:// www.port.bg