700 million euros won’t even pay for one kilometre of highway

Transports minister Radu Berceanu says he does not have money to complete even one kilometre of highway this year, although the motorway budget stands at 2.97 billion RON (720 million euros) of the 2.6 billion euros allocated for the Ministry on the whole, according to data obtained by ZF from Compania Nationala de Autostrazi si Drumuri Nationale (National Highway and National Roads Company – CNADNR) reveal.
The problem here is that the debt accumulated in 2009 for work performed by builders but yet unpaid has to be settled. Berceanu thus finds himself in the same situation he blamed Ludovic Orban for last year, after having retaken the helm of the ministry. Berceanu was also a minister for eight months in 2006-2007 during Tariceanu’s government.
From 1990 though 2009, there have been seventeen years during which not a single kilometre of highway was completed and history might repeat itself in 2010 if we take into account Berceanu’s statements at the beginning of the year. Still, the 700 million euros would have been enough to open a new motorway section, especially considering that several projects are under construction. An example in this regard is Hungary, which completed 65 kilometres of highway, with 52 bridges and six viaducts, four service areas and a maintenance centre this March, all for a mere 520 million-euro investment.