Information about the little spending on the highway program first surfaced a month ago, and confirmation of the disaster came with the sacking of the Transport Minister Dan Costescu this week. CNADNR is also not doing very well with the signing of new contracts, with contracts for only 35 kilometers of new highway scheduled to be closed this year.
Half of the RON4.4 billion budget CNADNR gets in a year is allocated to highways, but due to the red tape and lack of organization in the most unreformed institution in Romania, CNADNR, things stagnated or are postponed year by year.
Out of the RON152 million paid in the first five months, RON109 million went to the Brasov-Targu Mures-Cluj-Oradea highway, RON34 million to the Timisoara-Lugoj highway and RON2.8 million to the Bucharest-Brasov highway.
CNADNR did not allocate any money to investments in Moldavia and Muntenia, directing all the funds to Transylvania and Banat.
Only two new highway contracts are to be signed this year, one of which for the design and building of an 18-kilometer segment between Iernut and Chetani of the Ogra-Campia Turzii section of the Brasov-Targu Mures – Cluj – Oradea highway and the other for a 17-kilometer segment between Cluj Vest (Gilau) and Mihaesti, also part of the Brasov-Targu Mures – Cluj – Oradea highway.
Last year saw contracts signed for 94 kilometers of highway, 93 of which part of the Brasov-Targu Mures – Cluj – Oradea highway.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)