Egis group to oversee Bechtel project

The consortium made up of the French firms Scetauroute and BCEOM, both belonging to the Egis group of firms, has won the tender for the supervision of the contract awarded to Bechtel for the construction of the Brasov-Bors motorway, according to representatives of the Transportation, Constructions and Tourism Ministry.

The ministry had received another offer from KBR Great Britain, part of the powerful US concern Halliburton, which also initially submitted a letter of interest regarding participation in the Petrom privatisation.

According to ministry representatives, the signing of the contract is scheduled for August. The contract will be in place until the finalisation of works by Bechtel, scheduled for 2012.

The value of the supervision contract stands at several million dollars, while the motorway construction contract concluded in December with Bechtel is worth more than 2.4 billion dollars.

The consultancy hired by the Romanian State to monitor the realisation of the highway’s construction will have to supervise the execution of works from their inception, to confirm and account for their quality. Representatives of the Transportation, Constructions and Tourism Ministry also explained that the consultants would have to monitor all the issues pertaining to the contract, including possible financing problems and relationships between the contractor and sub-contractors.

The consultant for the Romanian State will be paid from the same funds that have been secured for Bechtel. To finance the contract signed with Bechtel, the Romanian authorities will contract foreign loans worth over 2.8 billion euros, reinforced with state guarantees.

Scetauroute is one of the world leaders in the domain of road engineering. Created in 1970, the company registered turnover of 112 million euros in 2002. Operating in over 40 states worldwide, the French company is part of the Egis group. With a capital of 15.2 million euros, Scetauroute has 859 employees, of whom over 60% are engineers.

BCEOM specialises in development engineering and international counselling, with operations in France and another 150 states. With a capital of 11 million euros, BCEOM posted revenues amounting to 56 million euros in 2002 and has over 410 employees. The Egis group reported revenues totalling 515 million euros in 2002. Through its various companies, Egis develops complete infrastructure solutions.
adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro