Bechtel Holds Romania’s Transylvania Highway Back, Not Funding – Romanian PM

When Hungarian journalists inquired, in the press conference held at the end of the meeting between the Hungarian and Romanian Governments, about the state of works for the highways that would connect Romania to Hungary, Tariceanu said the Romanian Government initiated two such projects, the Pan-Eauropean Corridor 4 and the Brasov-Bors highway.

 

He said, however, that the corridor 4 project is slowed down by bureaucratic issues allowed by the public procurement law, which mentions various auction stages and challenge solution procedures, while the deadlines for the Brasov-Bors highway are not observed by the constructor, American company Bechtel, even though funding was provided.

 

Tariceanu added Bechtel would no longer receive any money, in addition to the advance already paid, unless works are completed in a timely fashion and in accordance with quality conditions.

 

"The project is not low on funding, and Bechtel needs to understand that for every amount of money they receive in the end they will have to deliver a section of the highway, not just in quantity but in quality as well. We will not agree with any special derogation for Bechtel, even if they are an American company. This year they received large amounts in advance, in accordance with the contract, and for this money they have to work, to deliver. This is not an underfinancing problem, they are the ones unable to respect commitments taken on," Tariceanu said.

 

The head of the Government also said the highway construction program began late in Romania, as ten years were wasted without one single kilometer of highway built.

The projects for the construction of the Transylvania highway, between Brasov and Bors, began in 2004, based on a contract worth EUR2.2 billion granted to American company Bechtel. Works were interrupted around mid-2005, when authorities began reanalyzing the contracts concluded by the previous Government. Since works were halted, the deadline for the completion of the highway, initially set for 2012, was pushed back one year.

 

By mid-August 2008, the company completed a five-kilometer section of the highway, on a segment 25 kilometers long, which connects the towns Gilau and Campia Turzii.