The ministry has to pay RON240 million to Bechtel by the end of the Month, but can only afford RON98 million for the time being. “They will continue work and we will find a solution for the remainder,” said the minister.
The construction of the Transylvania Highway, which links central Brasov to western Bors on the Hungarian border, began in 2004 with a EUR2.2 billion contract awarded to Bechtel. The highway is designed to be 415 km long, but only 52 km have been built so far.
In 2011, the Government approved a new contract with Bechtel, which reduced the cost of the project to EUR6.9 million per km and allowed the sections where work has not begun to be auctioned off.
Bechtel will continue work on the Campia Turzii- Gilau and Suplacu de Barcau- Bors segments, making up 118 km of the highway’s 415 km. The highway has six other sections with a combined length of 297 km: Brasov-Fagaras (53 km), Fagaras-Sighisoara (52 km), Sighisoara-Ogra (56 km), Ogra-Campia Turzii (36 km), Cluj Vest-Mihailesti (24 km) and Mihailesti-Suplacu de Barcau (76 km). (EUR1=RON4.4421)