Hidroconstructia overshoots 2005 target

Hidroconstructia, one of the largest construction companies on the local market, made 156 million-euro turnover last year, an increase of 8% from its initial targets, the company officials say.

“This growth is due to the large number of contracts we signed last year, mainly in the sector of public constructions and infrastructure,” Emil Timofti, general manager of Hidroconstructia told ZIARUL FINANCIAR.

The company”s business therefore went up by 17.6% compared with 2004, when it was worth 132.6 million euros.

The company management reported a 142% increase in turnover in the first seven months of last year compared with the same time in 2004, due to the contracts signed in the first half, and brought about by the rising demand for reconstruction and consolidation of dams affected by floods.

The wave of floods last summer led to a strong growth in the demand for construction supplies.

Hidroconstructia was established in 1950 and originally specialised in hydrotechnical engineering, with its turnover constantly increasing until hitting record high in 2002, 121.6 million euros.

The business volume started to go down after that, with the company trying to stabilise by branching out to new segments on the constructions market.

Hidroconstructia has already positioned itself as a subcontractor of US-based Bechtel Corp, the general contractor of the Brasov-Bors motorway, in order to get a share of the business put at some 7bn euros in the coming years. The company is among Bechtel”s subcontractors for the building of the Transylvania motorway, a contract standing at about 2.4bn euros.

Construction work on the highway was put on hold last year, as the Romanian authorities demanded a renegotiation of the contract with the American party.

Government representatives have recently announced that the renegotiation of the contract with Bechtel has been completed, allowing works to be resumed this year, some of them being financed by the state.