To improve the joint risk management in the cross-border area by providing superior technical conditions that will have a major positive impact on the response speed of the emergency activities and missions in Giurgiu-Ruse region.

5,059,800.83 euro, out of which 4,300,830.70 euro ERDF

Lead Beneficiary (LB): TAU Giurgiu County (Romania)

Beneficiary 2 (B2): Fire Safety and Civil Protection Directorate General – Ministry of Interior (Bulgaria)

Start date: 30.03.2017

End date: 29.12.2023

Duration: 81 months

Giurgiu in Romania

Ruse in Bulgaria

• Construction works and endowments : Technical Material Base for Increasing The Response Speed in Emergency situations – Giurgiu; First Regional Office Fire Safety and Civil Protection – Ruse;
• Construction works and endowments : Technical Material Base for Increasing The Response Speed in Emergency situations – Giurgiu; First Regional Office Fire Safety and Civil Protection – Ruse;
• Events;
• Trainings;
• Information and publicity;
• Procurement of specific equipment.                  

Programme outputs: 1 joint partnership in the field of joint early warning and emergency response; 515,000 people benefiting from actions of risk management, flood protection measures and forest fire protection measures.

Programme results: increasing the efficiency of emergency situations interventions, performed in a shorter time, with less or no blockages, lower costs of operations and more secure equipment to be used in the rescuing missions.

The project is finalized.

The LB – TAU Giurgiu County has finalized the works on the investment objective on its behalf – “Technical Material Base for Increasing the Response Speed in Emergency situations”. LB has organized training courses for the personnel of the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, with the qualification of “auto mechanic” (3 participants x 720 h), signed the contracts for “Firefighting equipment- Mobile repair workshop (general usage - all risks)”, “Firefighting equipment- Special vehicle for operative work (general- all risks)”, “Firefighting equipment- Special vehicle with hydroperforation extinguishing system”, “Individual altitude rescue full kit”, “Collective altitude rescue full kit” and “Equipment and supplies for garage and workshop repairs and technical inspections”, which were delivered.

B2 has finalized the works on the investment objective on its behalf – “First Regional Office Fire Safety and Civil Protection - Ruse (First ROFSCP-Ruse)” from 10.08.2021.

Between LB and B2 was signed the Partnership agreement no. 198300-8983/22.12.2023 in order to establish a general partnership in the field of common early warning and response to emergency situations, applicable throughout the territory of the cross-border region, applicable for 10 years.

To improve the sustainable use of the natural and cultural heritage in the target cross-border region Dobrich-Constanta (Harsova – Krushari) through the development and promotion of joint tourism product ZALDAPA-DRY VALLEY-CARSIUM.

3,202,768.49 euro, out of which 2,722,353.22 ERDF

Lead beneficiary (LB): Territorial Administrative Unit Harsova Town (Romania)

Beneficiary 2 (B2): Krushari Municipality (Bulgaria)

Beneficiary 3 (B3): Museum of National History and Archaeology Constanta (Romania)

Beneficiary 4 (B4): Regional Museum of History – Dobrich (Bulgaria)

Start date: 20.05.2017

End date: 19.12.2023

Duration: 79 months

Harsova Town, Constanta, Constanta County, Romania

Krushari Village, Dobrich, Dobrich District, Bulgaria

• Information and publicity: temporary and permanent panels, joint press conferences, personalized press folders, press releases, TV spots, Radio spots, promotional film, web-site, bilingual posters, leaflets;
• Revitalization of Cultural Heritage in Harsova through the restoration, conservation and enhancement of Ensemble “Vasile Cotovu” as a Multicultural Center Museum;
• Development of tourism infrastructure of Fortress Zaldapa - Municipality KRUSHARI;
• Development of tourism infrastructure in Dry Valley;
• Setting up an outdoor museum in Krushari Municipality;
• Workshop on the topic: developing and promoting of a cross-border tourism product – advantages and challenges;
• Creation of a joint marketing strategy;
• Establishing of a touristic route and guided tour "Zaldapa-Dry Valley-Karsium”;
• Promotion of the joint tourism product through a presentation film and a web site;
• Preparation of advertising package for joint tourism product;
• Organization of a scientific symposium: recovery of Harsova Town’s and Krushari Municipality’s Memory;
• Archaeological camp;
• Conducting two promotional events.

Programme outputs:

   - 1 integrated tourism product;

   - 4,000 visits to supported sites of cultural and natural heritage and attraction;

   - 1 common strategy;

Programme results: 45,000 tourist overnights in the CBC region until 2023.

Current Project Status:

The implementation period of the project ended on 19.12.2023, but because of delays in the investment activity of LB – TAU Harsova Town and of the remaining soft project’s activities, the project was included on the list of non-functional projects. The new completion date of the project is 31.12.2024.

Many activities foreseen within the project are already completed:

- The tourism infrastructure of Fortress Zaldapa - Municipality Krushari was developed;

- The tourism infrastructure in Dry Valley was developed;

- An outdoor museum in Krushari Municipality was set up;

- A workshop on the topic: developing and promoting of a cross-border tourism product – advantages and challengesâ; establishing of a touristic route and guided tour “Zalpada – Dry Valley – Karsium”;

- The joint tourism product was promoted through a presentation film and a web site;

- The marketing strategy, available in both English and Bulgarian, was developed;

- The touristic guide, available in Romanian, English and Bulgarian languages, was elaborated;

- An archeological camp was organized.

B2 – Krushari Municipality has set up an open-air museum in the center of Krushari, where the artefacts and findings from the fortress Zaldapa were exhibited.

The presentation movie of the project can be accessed at the following link: https://acrossborderunion.primaria-harsova.ro/galerie-foto-video/ (available in English, Bulgarian and Romanian languages).

The 10 streets foreseen to be modernized in Harsova are finalized and the reception of the works was done.

Regarding the restauration works at the Multicultural Centre “Vasile Cotovu” (the Old School and the Pedagogue’s House), the construction works are unfolding. As LB has stated, in the period 20.11.2023 – 19.12.2023, the cumulative progress for the investment objective of LB reached a percentage of 43.07%, while the cumulative progress for the objective Old School – Museum reached 58.38%.

According to the information provided by LB, in the period 15.02.2024 – 15.03.2024, no progress was registered within the investment activity. In addition, within the previous period (15.12.2023 – 15.02.2024) was registered a progress of 10% at the thermal, air conditioning and fire signaling installations. From the information provided by LB, the construction works will be finalized in September 2024.

B3 – Museum of National History and Archaeology Constanta and B4 – Regional Museum of History Dobrich have developed a joint scientific volume. The volume was printed in 400 copies by the projects beneficiaries.

7.349.963,06 euro, out of which 6.247.468,60 euro ERDF

Lead Beneficiary (LB): Ruse Municipality(BG)

Beneficiary 2 (B2): Territorial Administrative Unit - Giurgiu Municipality(RO)

Start date: 12.05.2017

End date: 30.12.2023

Duration: 79 months and 19 days

Ruse and Giurgiu

Programme outputs: 8 km of improved inland waterway, 1 joint strategy for improvement of safety navigation on the Lower Danube

Programme results: 1.83% of the RO-BG CBC Danube length where safety of the navigation has been improved by joint actions

The project is finalized.

Related to the main investment objective “Rehabilitation of the piers of the passenger terminal Ruse center and improving the navigation conditions of the three berths” on behalf of the LB – Ruse Municipality, the construction works were started in September 2019 and were completed in May 2020. The investment objective was put in use at the beginning of March 2021.

In regards to the main investment objective related to the B2 – TAU Giurgiu Municipality” related to the „The arrangement of a sector of Sfântu Gheorghe Channel in order to improve connectivity in the Ruse-Giurgiu Euroregion” , the core works execution started at the beginning of October 2021 and was finalized in December 2023.

The main project document, namely The Joint Strategy for Enhancing Lower Danube Navigation Safety was developed in close consultation with the Romanian Naval Authority and Lower Danube River Administration Galati - Giurgiu Navigable Cabin section - institution from Romania, and Executive agency for exploration and maintenance of the Danube River and the Specialized Division “Ship Traffic Management

- Danube River” within the State Enterprise “Port Infrastructure” from Bulgaria. As revealed by the developed Action Plan, those authorities are the main responsible institutions for the implementation of the measures envisaged for the implementation of the Strategy.

Following the realization of both investment objectives in Ruse and Giurgiu, there were improved 8 km inland waterway, respectively 1.83% of the RO-BG CBC Danube length where safety of the navigation has been improved by joint actions.

To improve the sustainable use of Nikopol-Turnu Magurele cross-border cultural heritage by developing, implementing and promoting an integrated joint approach for investing in sustainable tourism.

Total budget of the project = 5,816,165.49 euro, out of which 4,943,740.66 ERDF

Lead beneficiary (LB): Nikopol Municipality, Bulgaria

Beneficiary 2 (B2): Turnu Magurele Town, Romania

Start date: 31.03.2017

End date: 30.12.2023

Duration: 81 months

• construction works for restoring Turnu Magurele fortress;
• constructing Nikopol archeological park with access road to Cliff Church 3 stakeholder workshops for developing 9 integrated tourist products/services;
• 1 joint marketing strategy;
• 1 joint information web portal and smartphone application;
• 5 info terminals;
• 2 clubs for historical restorations;
• 1 large-scale cross-border festival;
• information and publicity materials.

Programme outputs:10,000 visits to supported sites of cultural and natural heritage and attraction (COI); 2 integrated tourism products; 7 integrated tourism services; 1 common strategy

Programme results: 2,800 tourists overnights in the CBC region

The project was finalized on 30.12.2023 and the following results have been reported:

LB: the works on the road to the Cliff Church and the works for the construction of the Open-air Museum - Archaeological Park "Piers of the Time"were finalized. The protective wall and the works on the museum is finished. The museum is in the process of opening for visitors.

B2: the restoration of the Turnu fortress in Turnu Magurele was completed and is open for visiting.

Within the project so far the following equipment and services have been delivered:

- A joint marketing strategy have been elaborated and can be found at the following adress: https://thebridgesoftime.com/?page_id=6918&lang=en

- A trilingual online portal “The bridges of time” and a smart phone application have been developed and can be found at https://thebridgesoftime.comand the smart phone app , respectivelyGoogle Play Store under the name “The bridges of time”;

- 100 pieces of household costumes from the ancient era which will be used by the 2 clubs for historical restorations have been purchased.

- 2 clubs for restoration of the historical events have been established, one by LB and one by B2 and a training has been performed for the Romanian and Bulgarian club members with a duration of 200 hours.

- A four-day joint camp at the two clubs for ancient and medieval historical events in Turnu Magurele (Romania) and Nikopol (Bulgaria) was organized during the period 21-24.09.2023 in Nikopol and Turnu Magurele.

- The 3-day cross-border festival “The Bridges of Time” was organized in the period 06-08.10.2023 in Nikopol and Turnu Magurele. On 6^th of October 2023 the festival was organized in Turnu and during the period 07-08.10.2023 in Nikopol.

- A workshop with tour operators and other relevant stakeholders for development of joint tourist products and services and assessment of marketing strategy was organized during the period 27-28.11.2023 in Nikopol Municipality.

More information are available at: https://thebridgesoftime.com, and also on the mobile application The Bridges of Time.