The Ruse Municipal Council unanimously adopted an appeal to the government on Thursday, calling for the abolition of the toll for passenger cars crossing the Danube Bridge from the Bulgarian side. The proposal was submitted by a group of municipal councillors.

Last month, Romania’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure officially announced its decision to unilaterally abolish the toll for crossing the Danube Bridge in the direction from Giurgiu to Ruse. The measure came into effect on October 1 this year. Romania also formally invited the Bulgarian government to take a similar reciprocal step, according to BTA.

The appeal says that Bulgaria’s annual state budget revenue from the Danube Bridge amounts to approximately EUR 24 million. Of this, around EUR 1.7 million comes from the EUR 2 toll charged to
passenger cars. The councillors argue that this amount is insignificant for the national budget, while collecting the toll requires every vehicle to stop, causing traffic to pile in the area of the bridge.

The appeal to the government further states that “the lack of corresponding action by the Bulgarian state puts our fellow citizens at a disadvantage and undermines the principles of free movement within Europe. We call for immediate action to introduce reciprocity, which will ease traffic, eliminate artificial queues at the border and stimulate the economic development of the entire cross-border region.”