Tender, Hidroconstructia and Marriott, subcontractors in Bechtel deal

Romania’s largest construction company, Hidroconstructia, a branch of Tender SA company, as well as the Marriott hotel are on the list of subcontractors selected by US company Bechtel for the Brasov-Bors motorway, a deal worth 2.2 billion euros.

Bechtel has included more than 30 subcontractors on the list for the development of the largest infrastructure project in Europe, accounting for over half of the entire workforce, of 1,300 people, according to information provided by the company’s site that was launched late last week.

Last year, Bechtel signed a contract to design and build the Brasov-Bors highway, which will be entirely financed from the state budget.

The Romanian State directly attributed the contract to the Americans, with no previous tender, which stirred the European Union’s discontent.

Nevertheless, Romanian and foreign companies with domestic operations have been eagerly awaiting orders from Bechtel, as the huge project will be unfolding until 2012.

Construction firms, caterers, meal ticket issuers (such as Sodexho Pass), as well as security firms make up the list of Bechtel subcontractors, which expect a long-term growth of businesses, based on the Transilvania motorway.

In line with the latest statistics provided by Bechtel, subcontractors had about 680 people working within the project by December 1st. About half of the employees are working for IPTANA, a company involved, together with Search Corporation, in the motorway design.

“We have signed four contracts with Bechtel and hope to sign some more. We hope this will boost our businesses,” Emil Timofti, the general manager of Hidroconstructia Bucharest told Ziarul Financiar.

Transilvania highway will be built by the Americans of Bechtel, who have already set up their general headquarters in Cluj-Napoca, having teamed up with the Turkish construction firm Enka.

The 415km long motorway will create a connection between Bucharest and Budapest and is expected to produce a horizontal growth effect for several businesses. The potential businesses to be developed by hotels, restaurants and gas station networks is put at hundreds of million euros per year.

Overall, the management of the project announced it directly hired over 470 Romanians, with another 700 being involved as personnel of subcontractors by the end of September.

A number of 81 contracts have been signed with subcontractors and suppliers.

Bechtel is one of the world’s top general contractors in the field of large infrastructure projects.
adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro