Currently Romania has around 516 km of highway (which include highway-standard ring roads), with almost half of them being opened for traffic in the past six years, after Romania’s accession to the European Union.
Despite having exceeded the 500-km highway mark, Romania is still at the bottom of the European ranking, alongside neighbor Bulgaria.
Romania has allocated a total budget of around EUR4.1 billion for the 2007-2012 period for the construction of highways and opened around 285 km of highway, reveals a ZF analysis based on data sent by CNADNR, the company in charge of highways and national roads.
In other words, one km of highway has been opened for traffic per every EUR14 million spent by the roads authority during this period, according to ZF calculations.
Based on the cost standards of the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry, the minimum price per km of highway ranges between EUR3.9 million and EUR6.1 million, depending on whether the road is built in a plain, hilly or mountain area.
So, at an average cost of EUR5 million per km, the budget of the roads authority would have been enough to build around 820 km of highway, according to ZF calculations.
Similarly, for every EUR2.5 million spent by the roads authority between 2007 and 2012, one km of national road has been rehabilitated. Cost standards indicate that the rehabilitation of one km of national road should cost around EUR750,000, so the budget allocated by CNADNR for road rehabilitation would have been enough for around 4,800 km.
“[What has been achieved in terms of road infrastructure in the last 6 years] is completely unsatisfactory. In fact all that has been done since 1990 has been unsatisfactory. Irrespective of who came to power, we have not achieved a normal construction pace. (…) No-one ever thought that infrastructure was a matter of national priority,” said Razvan Niculescu-Aron, first vice-president of the Construction Companies Owners’ Association (PSC).
The pace of highway openings only accelerated in 2011, when around 70 km of highway were opened for traffic.
This year has been the best since 1990 in terms of highway openings, with over 100 km being opened for traffic this summer alone and more inaugurations to follow.
2013 should see the opening of more road sections of Pan-European Corridor IV, at least according to the contracts. But the situation of EU financing for infrastructure remains uncertain for the time being as most priority axes of the Sectoral Operational Program- Transport are pre-suspended.
The spending of money by the roads authority has always been a delicate subject, considering that the roads authority has a budget of EUR1.5 to EUR2 billion per year, i.e. the bulk of the Transport Ministry’s budget.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)