Romania's new transport minister Razvan Cuc avoided making any forecast on how many kilometers of new highways Romania would open this year, when asked by the journalists. He presented his priorities during the hearing in the Parliament’s specialized committees on Wednesday morning, January 4.

The members of the new PSD-ALDE Government led by Sorin Grindeanu were heard and validated by the Parliament's committees on Wednesday morning and the cabinet got the confidence vote later in the afternoon.

Referring to the road infrastructure, the new transport minister said that some of the priorities include the Sibiu-Pitesti and Comarnic-Brasov highways, reports local News.ro. Moreover, the projects related to the railway infrastructure and the Bucharest subway are also on the new minister’s agenda.

However, when asked how many km of highways will be inaugurated this year, Razvan Cuc said: “I’m not making any promises related to new km of roads,” reports Hotnews.ro.

In mid-November last year, transport minister Sorin Buse said that 150 km of highways would be inaugurated in Romania in 2017. Moreover, Catalin Homor, the general manager of the National Road Infrastructure Administration Company (CNAIR), said that “2017 will be the best year for highways.”

Razvan Cuc is a 33-year old economist from Giurgiu. He joined PSD in 2014 after previously being enrolled in the People’s Party led by media mogul Dan Diaconescu (PP-DD). He was a state secretary in the Transport Ministry from October 2015 until May 2016. On December 11, he was elected deputy.

The Transport Ministry is a very demanding portfolio, as it is in charge of Romania’s infrastructure projects, such as highways, railroads, and airports, and it has several troubled companies under its authority, including railway freight carrier CFR Marfa, railway passenger carrier CFR Calatori, and the state airline Tarom.

The new minister thinks that a new management must be named at CFR Marfa and that Tarom's personnel needs to be evaluated urgently and the company's fleet must be renewed.

State official: Romania to have 1,000 km of highways by mid-2018

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Razvan Cuc on Facebook)