The Romanian state has canceled the contract with Salini Impregilo, the Italian company that had built the segment of the Orastie-Sibiu highway, which closed one year after its opening due to large cracks formed in the road, said Transport Minister Dan Costescu.

The National Highways Company CNADNR will start searching for a new constructor that will fix the problems on this highway segment.

Under these conditions, the traffic on the highway could resume only in September this year. CNADNR may have to completely demolish and rebuild this segment.

The minister said the company's reports showed that the work had been done improperly and with poor quality materials, reports local Agerpres. The Italian company will be put on a blacklist and will not be able to take part in other auctions organized by the Romanian state in the next two years.

The authorities will try to execute the guarantees of about EUR 20 million that the constructor offered for the project.

In November last year, CNADNR filed a criminal complaint against Salini-Impregilo, for the execution problems which have led to problems on the third sector of the Sibiu-Orastie highway.

editor@romania-insider.com