Romania's Transport Ministry may drop World Bank support for mountain highway

Romania’s Transport Ministry may give up the World Bank’s support for preparing the Comarnic-Brasov highway, an important infrastructure project aimed at connecting the capital Bucharest with the mountain resorts in Prahova and Brasov and with the Transylvania region. The Government plans to have another attempt at this project through public-private partnership, under the coordination of the National Road Infrastructure Company – CNAIR. The Transport Ministry has already notified the Transport Committee in the Chamber of Deputies about its intention, according to Catalin Drula, a deputy from the Save Romania Union (USR) opposition party. Drula made the announcement on his Facebook page, writing that this decision reduces the chances that the project will be handled in a professional manner and damages Romania’s credibility in relation with international institutions. The Transport Ministry hasn’t made any official announcement related to the project yet. However, finance minister Eugen Teodorovici said on Friday, June 15, that the Transport Ministry found a faster way to make this project happen and that the financing part was not that important. Romania launched the Comarnic-Brasov highway project in 2003 but has failed three times in carrying out the project in public-private partnership. Last year, the Government announced the World Bank would provide support for this project. The transport minister also presented the MPs with an interesting point of view on the lack of highways in Romania, according to another Facebook post by Catalin Drula. Apparently, the minister told the MPs that when Romania will have modern highways like in Western Europe, wages will increase and foreign investors will leave the country anyway. World Bank to offer assistance for Ploiesti-Brasov highway editor@romania-insider.com