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ADR: transportation of dangerous goods by road in EU

As a member of EU, Bulgaria has adopted the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road, also known as ADR. The transportation of dangerous cargo by road is regulated thoroughly by this agreement, but some specifics in the regulation are delegated to the national legislation and authorities.

Bulgarian Agency  “Transport Administration” has adopted a regulation of what a transport company needs to do/not do in order to be able to carry/load/unload dangerous cargo. First of all, the carriage company needs to obtain transportation license by the Agency. Dangerous goods require special treatment therefore a special permit needs to be issued by the Agency if the company carries dangerous materials.

The main prerequisite for obtaining the permit is hiring a dedicated employee who will consult on every stage of the transportation process. This employee has to attend and successfully take special exams organized by the Agency “Transport Administration”. The consultant receives an ADR certificate which is for the particular category of dangerous materials that the exam has covered.

Secondly, the truck drivers also need special qualification in order to be able to drive dangerous cargo. They also need to sit a test and successfully take it in order to be able to practice that job. Each driver is allowed to drive only that category of dangerous material for which he/she has taken the exam. The driver receives a special ADR certificate which is recognized abroad.

The vehicles that carry the dangerous cargo has to meet the ADR requirements too. I will provide details on the vehicle requirements in a future post.

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Financial stability requirement for transportation companies

One of the major requirements for granting transportation license in Bulgaria (and EU)  is the requirement for financial stability of the applicant. Currently the requirements involve possession of own capital minimum of €9000 for first vehicle and €5000 for each following vehicle. If that amount cannot be covered by the capital of the applicant, there is another option. The transportation company need to provide a bank guarantee, that will cover the aforesaid amounts. Currently those are the two options available that can be used to prove financial stability of the applicant.

An amendment in Regulation №11  is introducing one more option for proving financial stability. The applicants can sign an insurance policy that will cover the aforesaid amounts. The policy need to be signed for at least one year in order the Agency to accept it. Currently this option is not in force, but will be very soon.

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Cargo and Passenger Transportation at Own Expense

The regime for transportation of cargo and passengers at the expense of the vehicle owner is regulated by  Council Regulation (EEC) No 684/92 of 16 March 1992 and consequently amended with Council Regulation (EC) No 11/98 of 11 December 1997. In general, the regulation of this type of transportation follows in a straightforward way, the aforesaid regulations.

As a summary I can point out just the main difference between the two type of transportation:

  1. Transportation at own expense and
  2. Occasional transportation (paid)

#1  doesn’t require transportation license but requires a certificate. The regime for obtaining such certificate is quite straightforward – just enclose all necessary documents and notify the Executive Agency for Vehicle Administration. You need such certificate if your company owns a vehicle (bus or truck) and delivers cargo/passenger, but for the purpose of your own company and not for third parties against pay. In short, you don’t offer transportation to third parties for money.

#2 requires transportation license. The regime involves providing a proof of financial stability of the company and numerous additional requirements that need to be met, before the license is granted. You will need such license if you offer transportation services to third parties as main commercial activity (for pay)

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Balchik Golf Heights woes

  • 01.11.2011
    • , by 
  • by Milen Hristov
  •   2 Comments

[NB]: Please read Mike’s comment below for more accurate information.

Since the developer of Balchik Golf Heights was forced to insolvency procedure, the developer continues to struggle. It turns out that even the sole owner of the capital of Varna Estates Ltd. – KMB Best of Bulgaria Properties and Services Ltd. (company No 131280900) – has also entered bankruptcy procedure. This makes collection of any creditor’s money difficult since the court fees for the bankruptcy administrator for both companies has to be paid by its creditors. Both procedures have been stalled because neither the insolvent companies, nor the creditors are able to pay the court and administrator fees. The proceedings will be stalled for 1 year. If they  are not renewed accordingly, the companies will be dissolved automatically by the court and nobody will get refund. Unfortunately this is just the beginning of mass bankruptcy wave of property developers that will follow.

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Developer of Balchik Golf Heights enters bankruptcy procedure

The developer of “Balchik Golf Heights” apart complex – Varna Estates Ltd- has been declared insolvent by Varna District Court. The proceedings have been initiated by a group of apartment buyers whose title deeds hasn’t been transfered to them. The procedure is in its beginning because the creditors need to pay the court fee. The case is suspended for indefinite period of time, but all Varna Estates Ltd assets has been seized and cannot be disposed. Creditors are encouraged to hire a solicitor and join the insolvency procedure in order to get a refund from the current assets of the company.

“Balchik Golf Heights” is one of the many unfortunate developments which hasn’t been finished in full. The property bubble has popped for Varna Estates Ltd too. Now it’s up  to the bankruptcy administrator to collect and sell as much as they can from Varna Estates Ltd assets in order to refund the buyers.

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Changes in car registration regulations in Bulgaria

Bulgarian Ministry of Interior (MoI) in preparing changes in the regulation for vehicle registration in Bulgaria. When car owner is changed, it is mandatory the new owner to register the car in the Police department, where new owner’s permanent address is. In order to avoid taxes and government fees, many new owners just pay for the car and drive it with a simple notarized power of attorney. The car documents stay on the name of the previous owner. This is common practice in Northern Bulgaria, where may Romanians buy cars from Bulgarian border cities  such as Dobrich, Varna etc. According to official Romanian and Bulgarian government data more than 3500 cars with Bulgarian license plates are actively driven on the roads in Romania.

So why the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior considers this as wrong? A spokesperson of MoI says it’s because of the cheaper insurances and annual vehicle taxes. They consider this as draining of the national Insurance Guarantee Fund e.g. if an accident happens with such car the damages will be covered by the aforesaid Fund, instead of the insurer of the car. This is because there is no new insurer, since the new owner is not the actual legal owner of the car.

MoI will stop this “bad practice” by amending the regulation for registration of vehicles. The new owner has to register the car in his state. If doesn’t do that within two weeks period, the old registration will become invalid and driving the car will be illegal.

How how Romanians can keep their cars and low vehicle taxes and insurances?

The answer is to register a local limited company and later transfer the car to it. the company will be dormant and will act only as a holder of the car, so the car owner can benefit the low insurance and state taxes. This will be a relatively low one time investment, but this way they can keep the Bulgarian car license plates.

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Check your contractor’s diligence

A new service is offered by the Bulgarian Chamber Of Private Enforcement Agents. The Chamber maintains a register of debtors in Bulgaria. It contains names of all companies and persons who have been sued successfully and enforcement proceedings has been initiated against them. In short there is a public register of people and companies who don’t pay their debts.

Access to the register has every law enforcement agent. They can provide information on particular company/person if you provide company number for companies and personal number for Bulgarian citizens. In order to check a foreign person, you need to provide just a name. The fee for this service is EUR 5  per person/company. More information can be found  here (in Bulgarian only)

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