EC approves 811 mln lei (166 mln euro) in financing for construction of bypass road in Romania

The total cost of the project is 968 million lei, of which 85% will be covered by EU non-reimbursable cohesion funds under the Large Infrastructure Operational Program for the 2014-2020 period, the transport ministry said in a social media post on Monday.

Romania requested from the EU financing for the project in November 2019.

The project envisages the design and construction of a 30.8 km bypass road, of which 16.3 km will be a highway. The road will include seven bridges, a road junction and seven road intersections.

According to data available on the website of Romania's road infrastructure company CNAIR, the contract for the construction of the bypass road was awarded to a consortium comprised of local companies Spedition UMB and Tehnostrade in December 2018. Works are expected to be completed in 36 months, with an additional seven-year warranty period.

Spedition UMB and Tehnostrade, established in 1997 and 2004, respectively, are also based in Bacau and are both part of the UMB Group, owned by local businessman Dorinel Umbrarescu.

Spedition employs 44, while Tehnostrade employs 1,170, according to data from the finance ministry website.

(1 euro=4.8746 lei)