Romanian interim president highlights energy interconnection, transportation infrastructure at Three Seas Forum

Interim president Ilie Bolojan noted that energy interconnection and transport infrastructure are Romania’s foremost goals in the upcoming period during a speech at the Three Seas Initiative Economic Forum on Tuesday, April 29.

The acting president began by noting the need to adapt and strengthen partnerships in the region, as a result of complicated times. He highlighted connectivity as a core principle for the region, and said that Romania plays an important role due to its positioning and economic capacity.

“Allow me to highlight some of the priority directions for Romania: first of all, energy interconnection. In cooperation with private companies, Romania has managed to develop prominent energy projects. The plan to build reactors 3 and 4 at the Cernavodă nuclear power plant is making significant progress, and when it comes to natural gas exploitation in the Black Sea, the strategic Neptun Deep project continues, essential for regional energy security, with production expected to start in 2027,” Bolojan said.

The Romanian official continued by stressing the importance of energy corridors.

“The Iasi-Chisinau gas pipeline and the other projects currently underway aimed at ensuring the Republic of Moldova's energy security will allow it to be supplied with electricity and natural gas largely from Romania,” he said.

Earlier this year, Romania announced plans to continue to provide Moldova with energy at a lower, capped price.

The other objective for Romania, according to the president, is transport infrastructure.

“The North-South transport corridors remain underdeveloped. For Romania, the road and rail infrastructure projects Via Carpathia and Rail-2-Sea remain a priority. In addition to the motorway sections already completed, the entire Via Carpathia project in Romania is in the contracting phase, covering almost 200 km,” he said.

Aside from motorways, Ilie Bolojan also said that Constanta, the largest port at the Black Sea, is a node of the International Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia with a growing importance. He also noted new road bridges being constructed between Romania and Moldova.

Bolojan’s last point concerned digital transformation. “We are in a global competition for innovation and technological development. We need to work together to develop state-of-the-art digital infrastructure in the region, and Romania's IT sector can bring a significant contribution in this sense,” he stated.

(Photo source: presidency.ro)