THE AGREEMENTS CONCLUDED BY THE BULGARIAN STATE WITH FOREIGNN AVIGATION COMPANIES IN THE INTERNATIONAL NAVIGATION ON THE DANUBE AND BLACK SEA IN THE LATE 19TH - EARLY 20TH CENTURIES

The purpose of the research paper is to reveal important moments in the history of international navigation on the Danube and the Black Sea in the late 19th th - the early 20th th centuries. Considering the broad picture of navigation, we will analyze specific issues related to the steps taken by Bulgaria for the development of navigation activities in its ports aimed at appropriate legislative changes and the conclusion of agreements with foreign shipping companies. The scientific novelty is given by the analysis of how the approaches of some young riparian states, which wanted to impose their sovereign will and economic interests in their own ports on the Danube and the Black Sea, influenced regional navigation. In this historical context and reference period, we analyse, in detail, the agreements concluded by Bulgaria with foreign shipping companies, French and German, at the early 20th th century. Conclusions. The late 19(th) - the early 20(th) centuries faced a particular surge in the presence of navigation companies on the Danube and in the Black Sea ports, marked by the diversification of navigation activities and the establishment of 'freedom of navigation on the River', as an expression of 'European interest'. The Danube ports were still the subject of the great powers' interest and the shipping companies that stimulated commercial activities on the Maritime Danube. Bulgaria, a young riparian state to the River that also benefitted from access to the Black Sea, initiated legislative and commercial steps, aiming at economic benefits and international visibility. These initiatives of the Bulgarian authorities expressed the incipient intentions to create a national shipping company that could successfully compete with the already established companies on the Danube and the Black Sea. The purposes of the agreements concluded with the German and French companies were to increase exports through Bulgarian ports and also the efficiency of the activity of the Bulgarian Railways, a vital area of the economy directly related to navigation. The actions of the Bulgarian government contributed substantially to the dynamism of navigation activities on the Danube and the Black Sea.