Boc aims for Bechtel deal to save 1,300 jobs

Romania’s Government and US constructor Bechtel aim to sign an agreement this month to reboot work on the 415-km Transylvania Motorway, following a failure by the state to pay the American building firm

April 2010 - From the Print Edition

Prime Minister Emil Boc promised Bechtel it would pay its debts to the constructor and hoped to close a deal which sees the constructor build another 20 kilometres by the end of 2010.
“The Government shall identify financial sources when it will revise the state budget in order to keep jobs and continue construction works,” Boc said.
Bechtel announced last February that it would lay off 1,933 employees who work on the motorway because Romania’s public road authority (CNADNR) failed to pay its 214 million Euro debt to the company. Boc estimates the new deal will mean two-thirds of these workers can stay in employment.
Bechtel finalised the first 42 kilometers of the Transylvania Highway, the Turda-Gilau sector, last December.
The Transylvania Motorway is designed to connect central Brasov to western Bors on the border with Hungary.
The construction of this motorway started in 2004 with an estimated value of works amounting to 2.2 billion Euro. Until now, the works have proved to be 50 per cent more expensive than the initial estimate.
The 2013 proposed finish date for the 415 kilometres long motorway is also not expected to be kept.