Highway connecting Western and Eastern Romania blocked

The project of Iasi-Targu Mures highway connecting the Western and Eastern parts of Romania is blocked until an investigation initiated by the National Antiorruption Directorate (DNA) is solved, sources told Economica.net. This means that the highway’s construction will not start soon. DNA sent a request to the National Company for Road Infrastructure (CNAIR) in July this year, after receiving a report from the Court of Accounts on possible irregularities in the public purchases related to this project. DNA requested documents on the revision of the feasibility study for the highway’s Targu Mureş - Ditrau segment, according to the same sources. The Court of Accounts’ report reveals the public money was wasted by contracting a new study for the highway without taking into account that another study had already been carried out. The contract for the revision of the feasibility study was attributed in May 2015 to the consortium of Aecom Ingenieria, Consitrans and Search Corporation for EUR 5 million. The initial feasibility study had cost EUR 767,000. The contract for the revision of the feasibility study was thus over six times higher than the initial feasibility study, according to the Court of Accounts. editor@romania-insider.com