Three bids for key section of Sibiu-Pitesti motorway in Romania

Three offers have been submitted from contractors for the last section (section 3) of the Sibiu - Pitești (A1) motorway, transport minister Sorin Grindeanu announced on March 10 on Facebook, quoted by Economica.net.

The section that crosses the Carpathians, between Cornetu and Tigveni, has a length of 37.4 km and an estimated cost of between RON 5.3-5.8 bln (EUR 1-1.1 bln), excluding VAT.

All the other sections have been awarded to contractors.

The other difficult section over the Carpathians (section 2) was awarded in February to an association led by the Turkish company MAPA, the only bidder that submitted an offer.

Also in February, WeBuild (formerly Astaldi) filed a complex set of objections to the tender held by the state road company CNAIR for section 3 of the motorway. MAPA was at that time the sole bidder for section 3.

The Italian company is among the three bidders announced on March 10, while MAPA is no longer among them. Turkish Makyol and Austrian Strabag are leading the other association of companies that submitted bids for section 3. In its objection, Astaldi objects to the very poor quality of the feasibility study that forces the bidders to either ask for very high prices (to cover the risk) or take high risks.

(Photo: Pexels)