Minister Kremlík: In ship transport we need to eliminate bottlenecks on rivers24/5/2019|Press releasesThe waterways concept and the use of waterways for passenger and freight transport, extension of navigation on Elbe to Pardubice and the state of construction of the Děčín navigation section. These were the topics the transport minister Vladimír Kremlík was discussing during his visit to the Waterways head office (ŘVC). Minister Kremlík met the head Lubomír Fojtů and the management of this organisation for the development of the waterways infrastructure in the Czech Republic. They also visited the site of the ongoing modernisation of the lock chamber on the Prague island of Štvanice. "Today I saw the current work progress on the modernisation of the Vltava waterway in the Štvanice lock chamber that is the second most used lock chamber in Prague. The building contractors and ŘVC management assured me that the works proceed by the time schedule and the upgrade will be finished at the beginning of the next year" the transport minister Vladimír Kremlík said and added that ŘVC wants to have the navigation route extended to 556 km from 2023. "I can gratefully confirm that minister Kremlík considers the construction of waterways as part of the transport network of the Czech Republic. We agreed that bottlenecks need to be eliminated. This primarily applies to the construction of the Děčín navigation section, extension of navigation on river Elbe to Pardubice and modernisation of the Vltava waterway between Prague and Mělník. The modernisation involves two lock chambers: the Hořín lock chamber and the lock chambers here on Štvanice," the head of the waterways organisation Lubomír Fojtů added. The head of the transport sector was also discussing with the ŘVC management the waterways concept for the following years and the Danube – Odra – Elbe navigation corridor.“ I heard the opinions of the head, Lubomír Fojtů, on these topics. We are now working at the ministry on new materials that I will submit to the government for discussion until the end of this September," minister Kremlík added. The transport minister welcomed at today's meeting that the waterways head office is also preparing projects for recreational navigation. They include for example the extension of navigation routes on the Baťa channel and construction of a basic docks network for small boats on river Elbe.