“The contract with Bechtel (the U.S.-based constructor building the highway – e.n.) was poorly negotiated and we are now renegotiating prices,” state secretary Eusebiu Pistru said at the Mediafax Talks about Transport & Logistics conference.
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 U.S. constructor Bechtel. Work was halted mid-2005, when Romanian authorities started looking into contracts signed by the previous administration. The project’s deadline was extended to the end of 2013 from 2012.
Works on the highway have also been halted early 2011 when Bechtel started procedures to lay off its 700 employees working on the site because the Government hadn’t paid for the works.
The highway is designed to be 415 kilometers long, but only 52 kilometers have been built so far.
Romania owed Bechtel EUR90.4 million in May, plus 90.3 million lei (EUR21 million) in VAT. (EUR1=RON4.2685)