Romania's Govt. may pay EUR 40 mln compensations to Italian group for unfinished subway line

The Romanian Government may decide to pay from the state budget some EUR 40 million worth of compensations to Italian group Astaldi, the group in charge with building the fifth subway line in Bucharest. Astaldi obtained the compensations in court after suing the subway operator Metrorex. The court’s decision is final, local Mediafax reported. The Transport Ministry drafted a Government Decision to pay the compensations from the state budget as the company doesn’t have the funds to cover these payments. A consortium made of Italian group Astaldi, Spanish group FCC Construccion and Romanian companies Delta ACM 93 and AB Construct has been in charge with building the fifth subway line in Bucharest, which connects the Drumul Taberei residential area to the city center. The project should have been completed in 2015 but the line hasn’t been inaugurated yet as some work still needs to be done. The line has a length of 6.1 kilometers, nine stops and a depot and the total costs have amounted to almost EUR 700 million, partly covered from EU funds. Bucharest’s newest subway line may become operational in 2019 editor@romania-insider.com