EU funding for Bechtel project competitor

The Cabinet last week enacted a law draft ratifying the financing contract between the European Investment Bank and the National Road and Highways Company in Romania for building the Arad – Timisoara – Lugoj highway. The contract was signed in late last year and entails the taking out of a 200 million euro loan, with the Government allocating a further 70 million for the completion of the first section of the highway (Arad-Timisoara) and the Arad beltway by 2008. The Arad-Lugoj section is part of the Nadlac-Deva highway project estimated to cost 961 million euros, 75% of which are supposed to be covered by EIB. The Nadlac-Deva motorway, located on the pan-European Corridor IV, is a project backed by the European Union and practically competes with the Brasov-Bors highway, a contract awarded by the authorities directly to US-based Bechtel Corp. ZF