Romania's National Company for Highways (CNADNR) signed on May 11 a contract worth EUR 157 million to finalize the 60 km of highway between Suplacu de Barcau and Bors, part of the Transylvania highway.

The section was half built by American group Bechtel. Spanish group Corsan-Corviam Construccion, in association with Romanian company Consinit and insolvent local firm Road Consulting & Design, will finish the 60-km section. They have two years to design and build the highway.

The state launched the auction for this section in May last year, one year after it canceled the contract with Bechtel.

Work on this highway segment started in 2007 as part of the Transilvania project which was supposed to be entirely built by Bechtel.

The Romanian state approved in 2003 the EUR 2.2 billion contract to create the 415-kilometer highway connecting Brasov and Bors. It modified the contract several times, and canceled it ten years later.

Bechtel only finished 52 kilometers, which is 12.5 percent of the highway, but cashed in over EUR 1.2 billion from the Romanian state.

editor@romania-insider.com