The European Commission has approved 2 firms and 5 consortiums in the shortlist for engineering and supervising the project for building a second bridge across the Danube River connecting the Bulgarian city of Vidin and Romania 's Calafat. According to information of the transport ministry, the shortlisted candidates should submit binding bids by Sep 4. The winner selection process and the signing of the contract are expected by the end of the year. In the other tender for building the bridge, the transport ministry has invited 5 shortlisted bidders to submit final offers by Sep 15. Engineering and construction works are projected to continue 38 months while the deal with the supervisor will cover a period of 51 months. The total cost of the bridge build-up is estimated at EUR 236mn. Most of the financing is secured by EU and bilateral donor programmes.

The engineering and supervision shortlist comprises the following names: Individual participants (2): Cowi A/S ( Denmark ); Mott MacDonald Ltd ( UK ); Consortiums (5): Faber Maunsell (UK) in partnership with Luis Berger SAS, Ove Arup&Partners, and Tecnica Y Proyectors; Ingerop (France) and High-Point Rendel (France); Setec TPI (France) and Consulgal, Denko, Dilkrl Consult; Tony Gee and Partners (UK) and White Young Green Consulting, Planet, WYG International; and WSP Group (Sweden) in partnership with Hill International, Italferr, and Tecnic.

Bulgarian National Assembly has ratified an Annex 1 to the Danube Bridge II agreement that enlarges the time limit for finances absorption for the facility building and research, news agencies reported on July 19. The new deadline for receiving the subsidy that comes from the agreement between Bulgaria and the French Development Agency is December 31st 2008. The grant amounts to EUR 5 million (US$ 6.24 million) and is designed for the Bulgarian government co-financing part. The time limits enlargement is necessary as the contracts for the bridge construction will be signed in the second half of 2006. That means that money will be spent mainly in 2007 and 2008, government experts said when requested the change that will put the grant in the 2007 state budget. The initial conditions of the agreement said that all the money that wasn’t absorbed should be annulled.