Authorities in central Romania counties plan EUR 2.5 bln regional projects

Some 30 mayors of cities and communes in central Romania, accompanied by European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu met in the Fagaras Fortress to forge the plans for the Faragas Land development region, a project envisaging EUR 2.5 billion investments including, among others, an expressway to link Brasov and Sibiu, local Turnulsfatului.ro reported.

The money would mostly come from the European Union’s budget.

The plan includes all the communes and cities on the northern side of Fagaras mountains, the highest massif of the Romanian Carpathians. At this moment, there are wide disparities among the 33 regional entities part of the project, partly due to natural barriers preventing smooth road access, which has resulted in uneven access to public services.

Bringing together the mayors of the communes and towns in the two counties of Sibiu and Brasov has proved to be easier than developing a metropolitan region around Sibiu, head of Sibiu county administration Mariana Caju explained.

The most important project envisaged is the road connection between Mandra and Selimbar, a project included in the Government’s Master Plan for Transport.

"We do not expect the Government to earmark the money very soon. Therefore we will apply for funds from the European Union," Caju stated. "We can move faster [than the Government] with writing the project and pursuing the project."

(Photo source: Facebook / Corina Cretu)