Sova promises highways but terminates contract with Italian developers for Sibiu-Orastie lot

“For Orastie-Sibiu, the National Road Company will approve terminating the contract with Impregilo this week. They couldn’t reach an agreement from a technical and financial point of view. There are issues for the specialists with the mudslides in the area”, Sova said.

Asked what will happen with the project, the Minister said they will hold a new auction for finishing the last 6 km of highway.

“We will organise a new auction. Impregilo asked for the contract to be increased but that is an illegal move that cannot be acknowledged by any expert or accepted by the European Commission. When you’re faced with a situation like this, you terminate the contract and start the project again, you auction it with a new price and that’s it. We only have 6 km to go so whoever wins the auction faces just 6 months of work”, Dan Sova explained.

The State signed with Impregilo in 2011, and it paid RON 604.8 million for 20 km of highway. The works were supposed to be finalized in April 2013, but the constructor couldn’t uphold the deadline, blaming the mudslides that weren’t mentioned in the feasibility study provided by CNADNR.

CNADNR estimated 93 NEW Km of highway in 2014 and 195 Km in 2015.

Dan Sova said on the same occasion that by the end of 2015, the highway from Sibiu to Nadlac will be completed, which is very good news for Dacia.

“The good news for Dacia is that, by the end of 2015, we will have a highway between Sibiu and Nadlac. Practically, all that is left to do is Pitesti-Sibiu, meaning 120 kilometers. More than that, we had a discussion with the PPE council last week with and they said they will finish their highway to Nadlac by the end of this year, one year ahead of us”, Dan Sova said.

The official said that the project for the Pitesti-Sibiu highway will start at the end of 2015, with two segments on the Pitesti-Curtea de Arges-Ramnicul Valcea and Sibiu-Boita routes. Sibiu-Pitesti highway will have a length of 116 kilometers and its estimated value is EUR 3.2 billion, according to CNADNR data.

The minister also mentioned that the constructor for Craiova-Pitesti and the winner of the auction will be announced in July. (Source: business-review.eu)