Bucharest-Constanta highway in Romania, finalized after 32 years from design stage

The Bucharest-Constanta highway in Romania was finally finished in all the sections after work on the segments Cernavoda-Medgidia and Medgidida-Constanta were officially finalized on Thursday (November 29). The highway has been functional but with only two lanes available for traffic between Medgidia and Constanta. The highway project, designed in the 80s and stopped several times, then re-started , had various deadlines which were not met: 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2011. Problems encountered along the way included archeological discoveries, bad feasibility studies, contract cancellations. There was also the funding problem, which was solved during 2006-2007 by involving international financial institutions, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which financed part of the project. Astaldi SPA-Max Boegl România SRL Cernavodă finished work on the project, after the initial contract with French firm Colas was canceled in 2011. The total value of the project from Cernavoda to Constanta was around RON 1.5 billion (some EUR 326 million without VAT). The financial support allocated through the Cohesion Fund was RON 350 million (EUR 77 million without VAT), of which the European Commission Contribution was RON 297 million (EUR 66 million without VAT). The difference to the total value was provided by the Romanian Government from the State budget and other sources of funding (BEI). Ioana Toader, ioana.toader@romania-insider.com