Skip to main content

Romanian road issues

Political controversy is looming with the revelation that Romania's National Road Company (CNADNR) has spent some €1.5 billion on upgrading 2,800 km of roads since 2004.
March 5, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Political controversy is looming with the revelation that Romania's National Road Company (2870 CNADNR) has spent some €1.5 billion on upgrading 2,800 km of roads since 2004.

The funding for the road improvements was supplied jointly by Romania's state budget as well as from European sources. One issue is that CNADNR has been accused of mis-spending over €93 million of 2332 World Bank funding in 2004, when it missed targets set by the bank intended to establish project management standards. Although funding has been routed from international sources into Romania's road network, little benefit appears to have been achieved so far. Romania's road authorities have invested in feasibility studies for highway projects but the amount of construction work carried out to date has been minimal.

For example, only now is Austrian contractor 945 Strabag working on a project to upgrade Romania's DN14 and DN15A national roads in deals worth a total of some €106 million. STRABAG's deal will see the firm upgrading a total of 150km of road, with the work commencing in April 2011 and scheduled for completion in March 2013. As part of its contract, STRABAG will widen and improve the existing road network, upgrade bridges, and install safety measures. The work forms part of the sixth rehabilitation programme of national roads in Romania and is financed by funds from the 1054 European Investment Bank and from the national budget.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • FIEC calls for greater transport spending for Europe
    October 7, 2019
    The FIEC, which represents Europe’s contracting firms, is calling for greater spending on developing the transportation network. According to the FIEC, a stronger EU budget for transport is of importance for the European economy. An official statement said, “On its own, completing the TEN-T network will create 10 million extra jobs by 2030. State-of-the art transport infrastructure is also an investment in long-term growth and jobs. Investing €750 billion could generate € 4,551 billion additional GDP.” The
  • Bolivia dual carriageway project stalled
    September 12, 2016
    Work remains at a halt on the 70km dual carriageway upgrade connecting Yapacani with Montero in Bolivia’s Santa Cruz department. A disagreement between the Mexican construction company that was building the link, Tradeco, and Bolivia’s road administration department, ABC, resulted in the contract being cancelled. The route, Highway 4, runs from Yapacani through Santa Fe, San Carlo and Portachuelo to Montero and the project was intended to improve the road and boost its capacity by increasing the number of l
  • Serbia-Kosovo highway work starting
    October 12, 2021
    Work is finally starting on the Serbia-Kosovo highway project.
  • Tackling the UK's traffic congestion
    February 28, 2012
    The biggest problem on UK roads is congestion, and there is no shortage of ideas as to how it should be tackled. Patrick Smith reports. Congestion (and how to relieve it), along with safety, are among the top priorities facing those responsible for looking after the UK's roads. Road pricing, car-share lanes, greener vehicle initiatives and alternative methods of transport such as buses, trams and rail are all part of the approach, but prior to the current economic climate the nation's love affair with the c