EU anti-fraud office looks into new Bucharest subway line project

The European anti-fraud office carried out a three-day control at Romanian company Metrorex, which operates the subway in Bucharest. The control targeted the construction of the new subway line that connects the Drumul Taberei residential area to the city center, official sources told local Hotnews.ro. The OLAF team asked for documents related to this project, according to the same sources. OLAF confirmed that it was investigating allegations about irregularities in this contract, but declined to make any other comments. According to Hotnews.ro sources, the accusations are related to overvalued payment made to the contractor, with the complicity of Metrorex employees. Bucharest subway line 5 is one of the biggest infrastructure projects financed with EU funds. The whole project has a value of close to EUR 690 million, EUR 570 million of which came from the EU. Italian group Astaldi and Romanian companies Delta ACM and AB Construct have been working on this project since 2011. The project has suffered several delays and the new estimated deadline for its completion is the second half of 2018. Bucharest’s Drumul Taberei metro line to start running in mid-2018 editor@romania-insider.com