Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu said on Prima Tv that it is a shame for the Romanian state that more than 15 years after joining the European Union, work began on the first highway that crosses the Carpathians, namely Sibiu – Pitesti, he said that there were things that , seemed to go wrong.

Sorin Grindeana was asked when the Sibiu – Pitesti highway will be ready.

• “This section from Sibiu to Pitesti consists of five lots, five plots. At the end of last year batch 4 was signed, at the beginning of this year batch 2 was signed, we are talking about the heaviest, and a few days ago batch 3 was signed, so 2, 3 and 4, the most difficult batches 5 were signed in recent months. Lot 1 from Sibiu to Boite is working very well at the moment and I hope to have these kilometers in service by the end of this year. It is about 14 kilometers,” said the Minister of Transport.

He specified that the stage of work on the Sibiu – Boita section is 80%.

• “He should be ready, according to the contract, sometime in the middle of next year. At the moment, the company has mobilized very well, it is somewhere over 80 percent, it has started pouring, including the worn layers of asphalt, everything that is near the end of the work. Hence my optimism. Work has also started at the other end, from Pitesti to Curtia de Arges. I hope that the company that is working there, in Section 5, and that also won Section 3, which I mentioned earlier, the most difficult, the largest contract ever signed by CNAIR, will increase its pace of work so that all these conditions stipulated in the contract is being followed,” Sorin explained to Grindyanu.

He specified that the Sibiu-Pitesti highway has been requested by Romanians for decades.

• “This issue, related to Sibiu-Pitesti, for example, is not an issue that was blocked only in 2021, but a road that Romanians have demanded for decades to cross the Carpathians. Three of the most difficult highway lots out of five were signed here in a few months, the others have already been signed. Almost every week when you see the ad, we either award a highway lot or put it up for auction. There are things that have entered into a certain rhythm that must happen according to a calendar defined by law. The entire period of the auction, appeals and so on,” the Minister of Transport also stated.

He stated that it is a shame for the Romanian state that it launched the first highway crossing the Carpathians 15 years after joining the European Union.

• “Let’s take the years, at least the years since the entry into the European Union, in 2007, we are talking about 15 years. In 15 years, you as a state, various governments, various ministers, of all stripes, should be able, in almost or in 15 years, more than 15 years, you should be able only then or now to auction, to the first highway that actually crosses the Carpathians, it is a shame for the Romanian state. And I assume that. Over the years, I held various positions, was prime minister, and minister, and in other portfolios, and in the local administration. There are things that seem to have gone wrong,” Grindianu said.

He added that it is not always the fault of the investing company when there are delays in infrastructure projects.

• “I want those who win to adhere to the terms of the contract, some, and I really want to praise them, they do it, others, often you know there are also reasons why there is a certain delay in certain work, not always the company, which builds is one hundred percent to blame, and I have to be fair and say so. Many times, relations with other institutions, with other municipalities, do not develop at the pace that you initially proposed: expropriation, transfer of communications, to give only a few examples, water crossings, forest permits from Romanian waters. Sometimes the rhythm is wrong… If the rhythm is bad, it is not necessarily one hundred percent the designer’s fault,” claimed Sorin Grindeanu, quoted by News.ro.