Romanian road funding

A sum of €1.4 billion is to be allocated by the Romanian Ministry of Transport & Infrastructure for road construction in 2012.

It said the road sections which it expected to be completed this year included the Cernavoda to Constanta section, Bucharest to Ploiesti, and Timisoara to Arad, as well as the Arad and Constanta bypasses.

These were initially planned for delivery in 2011, but were said to have been delayed for various reasons, including the cancelation of contracts with general contractors, and a shortage of funds.

In 2012, the National Company for Motorways & National Roads (CNADNR) - which is the Romanian government agency in charge of awarding road construction orders - plans to complete the construction of only two national roads, the DN79 Arad to Ordea road and the DN12 Bixad to Sandominic road in the counties of Harghita and Covasna.

The combined investment in the two projects will be RON809 million (€186 million). The CNADNR also plans to complete the construction of 20 road bridges in the country this year at a combined cost of RON20 million (€4.6 million).

In total, spending on road infrastructure projects - including construction, modernisation and repair - in 2012 is expected to reach approximately €1.8 billion, which represents 72% of the entire investment budget planned by the ministry.

Road infrastructure projects worth €3.5 billion between them were completed in Romania in 2009/2010, resulting in 52 km being delivered on the Transylvania motorway between Campia Turzii and Gilau, among others.