Astra Vagoane Calatori owner drops partnership with Siemens

Astra Vagoane Calatori Arad, owned by businessman Valer Blidar, announced it gave up the partnership with Germany’s Siemens producer of rolling stock, a partnership in the wake of which it was due to start producing a new tramway model. The contract with Siemens was to be signed on Saturday in Arad in the presence of president Traian Basescu. According to specialists in the domain, such a partnership is feasible when production exceeds 40 units, and Astra gave up a contract that could have brought more than 100m euros, taking into account the average price of 2.5-3m euros for a tram. “Siemens representatives proved to be very rigid, they wanted everything, and us to do the work. We had even reached an agreement but on Monday, when I read the contract to be prepared until Saturday, I found something completely different and I gave up,” stated Valer Blidar. Also called the carriage baron, Blidar surprised the world of business this year after he got NBR’s approval to open a bank. Siemens made no comments about the failure of the project.