A drop in the prices of imported goods and transport services is foreseen by the Union of International Carriers after the opening of the Schengen area by land. Bulgarian drivers, who already freely cross the land borders with Greece and Romania, are starting to plan logistics in a new way, BNT reported.
Without waiting and queues, entering Bulgaria through "Danube Bridge 2" can now be done in seconds – says Angel Dimchev, who has been an international driver for 9 years and is now returning to our country for the first time under the new rules.
"I entered literally in a minute. I only paid the fee for "Danube Bridge". The National Revenue Agency asked for my documents. They reviewed them and we wished each other all the best. "It used to happen that we couldn't enter Bulgaria for 3 days," said driver Angel Dimchev.
Transport companies are already calculating the additional routes that trucks will be able to make instead of waiting in queues at the borders.
"The losses and lost profits amounted to 1.6 billion in one year, i.e. we expect that these funds will be generated in the economy," said Yordan Arabadzhiev, director of the Union of International Carriers.
In the long term, a decrease in the price of transport services is also expected. It is difficult to say exactly by how much, because a number of countries have raised their toll fees since the new year, and fuel prices are dynamic. More realistic is the reduction in the prices of some imported goods.
"All goods that are transported by road, the cost of transport is in the price of the goods, so we expect, what we have observed so far, that the price of a good in Germany and in Bulgaria was higher in Bulgaria, we expect there to be an equalization of these prices", said Yordan Arabadzhiev.
For drivers, these calculations also have personal dimensions.
"They mean that I can be with my family longer, with my children more of the time", commented driver Angel Dimchev.
Hundreds of international drivers are hitting the road again by the end of the week, when their series of days off for the holidays ends. Even with more – intensive traffic, carriers do not expect queues of trucks at the borders with Greece and Romania. The repair of "Danube Bridge 2" has resumed, but the passage there is regulated by a traffic light, which changes every 7 minutes in each direction.