Georgi Gvozdeykov: Building more charging stations is a key step to increase the share of green transport

The Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov hosted a meeting to discuss policies and measures to introduce sustainable and environmentally friendly mobility.

Minister Gvozdeykov pointed out that one of the main incentives for increasing the number of electric cars is the construction of more charging stations. "Price is not the only factor in choosing whether to buy a car with an internal combustion engine or an electric one. The lack of a charging station network also has an impact and therefore the state and business need to work together to build the necessary network faster," the transport minister said. He pointed out that careful consideration should be given to legislative changes aimed at increasing the share of environmentally friendly cars.

During the meeting it became clear that more than 70% of the cars registered in Bulgaria are over 15 years old, while passenger cars up to 5 years are only 4.5%. The possibility of creating a single register of used cars was discussed, which would contain information on registration, insurance, technical inspections, repairs carried out, actual mileage and other data on the condition of the car.

Progress on the preparation of an Electric Mobility Promotion Act was also discussed, as well as various mechanisms at national and local level to support electric car owners. Various proposals in this direction are to be examined in detail at working group level.

The talks were attended by the Minister of Environment and Water Yulian Popov, the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Dimitar Nedyalkov, the Deputy Minister of Innovation and Growth Martin Gikov, experts from the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Finance, the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria, associations of car manufacturers and NGOs.