Romania cancels highway contract close to completion after construction company Alpine Bau goes insolvent

The contract for a highway segment in Romania which was close to completion was recently canceled as the construction company Alpine Bau went bankrupt. The contract for the second segment of the Nădlac-Arad highway in Western Romania concerned 16.6 kilometers, and the work was 84 percent completed. The Austrian construction company cashed in some EUR 69 million so far for this project, for which work started in 2011, and was supposed to be completed within one and a half years. The entire value of the contract with Alpine Bau was of EUR 124 million. The other segment of the highway had been awarded to the association between Romania and Portuguese firms Romstrade-Monteadriano Engenharia e Construcao-Donep Construct, in a contract worth EUR 115 million. The contract for the other segment was also canceled in November 2012 because of a delay in work. Alpine's bankruptcy, which has been asked for end – June, has been dubbed Austria’s biggest postwar insolvency. The company was closed down and parts of it sold or on sale by owner FCC and by banks. Spanish construction company FCC Fomento de Construcciones&Contratas, which is also active in Romania, and the lending banks for Alpine Ba, did not agree to fund the company with EUR 3 million a day to continue its ongoing construction projects. Romania is yet to announce what will happen with the construction of the Nădlac-Arad highway and when the work will be again tendered to new bidders. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Alpine Bau)