Bechtel’s building project might be suspended if the Government does not give more money, according to Grigore Pop, Cartel Alfa's Union leader.
Works on Transilvania Highway, which should link Brasov with the northern frontier point at Bors, could be suspended for the second time since the project has been started.
The Cartel Alfa Cluj leader who spoke with Bechtel’s management provided the information. “The American company no longer agrees to finance the works, while the Romanian state delays the payments. Michael Mix, Bechtel’s manager told me so”, Grigore Pop said.
According to Pop, the Romanian state should have provided total funds of 442 million euros for this year alone. “An advance payment of 130 million euros was made in order to cover up some holes. Bechtel’s manager told me that the state still didn’t pay for the works in December, January, February and March, valued at 52 million euros”, Pop added.
The 3.500 employees working on the highway are ready to cut off the national roads in the area if the Executive doesn’t finance the project.
Failed negotiations
Pop says that the amount of money the Government had promised for the next budged revision is very small.
“Mix told me that there were a series of negotiations held with Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu and with the Minister of Transports, Ludovic Orba, who proposed a payment of 92 – 95 million euros, which is enough to patch up a small part of the highway ”, the union leader says.
The issue is very serious because, along with the insufficient fundings, the company faces difficulties in acquiring the properties that will be crossed by the highway, as well as problems with designing new sections, according to Bogdan Sgarcitu, communication manager at Bechtel. “The 95 million euros that have been promised cannot be sufficient”, Sgarcitu said.
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