Romania signs first two contracts for vital highway in the eastern part of the country

Romania’s public infrastructure company CNAIR signed on Thursday, June 16, the contract for the construction of the first segment of the future A7 highway.

Prime minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Thursday that his cabinet’s goal is to have all the execution contracts for the A7 highway signed by the end of this year.

Also known as “the Moldova highway”, this high-speed road will connect the capital Bucharest with the big cities in the Eastern and North-Eastern Romania regions. This infrastructure project is vital for the economic development of one of Romania’s poorest regions.

The A7 highway will start from Ploiesti and go east to Buzau, then north to Focsani, Bacau, and Pascani, where it should meet another highway passing the Carpathians from Transylvania to Iasi.

The Italian group Pizzarotti will build the first segment of this highway, 21 kilometers from Ploiesti to Mizil. The contract is worth RON 1.5 bln (EUR 303 mln) without VAT, and the execution period is 20 months.

On June 7, transport minister Sorin Grindeanu signed the contract for the second segment of the highway section between Ploiesti and Buzau (Mizil-Pietroasele). An association between Romanian company Coni SRL and Bulgaria’s Trace Group Hold will build this 28-km segment for RON 1.25 bln (EUR 252 mln).

The complete 63-km highway section between Ploiesti and Buzau will be financed with RON 3.8 bln (EUR 768 mln) through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).

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