Romania’s road infrastructure company CNAIR has approved the technical and economic parameters for the middle section of the A8 highway, which will connect the historical regions of Transylvania and Moldova. This approval prepares the way for launching the public tender for what will be the most expensive highway ever built in Romania.

The Government’s approval is also needed to launch the tender.

The highway section, which is almost 160 km long, will cost RON 31 billion (EUR 6.4 billion) without VAT, or nearly EUR 40 million per km, according to Ziarul Financiar. The estimated cost is about 40% higher than for the mountain section of the A1 highway between Pitesti and Sibiu, according to the same source.

The A8 highway will connect the city of Targu Mures in Transylvania with the biggest city in Moldova – Iasi, and will eventually reach the border between Romania and the Republic of Moldova at Ungheni.

This highway should connect Romania’s North-East region, one of the poorest in the European Union, to Western Europe as it will intersect with the Transylvania highway, which stretches to the border with Hungary.

Two shorter segments of the A8 highway have already been auctioned, but the middle section, between the villages of Miercurea Nirajului and Leghin, is the most difficult part of the project. This section will cross three parallel mountain ridges in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains (from east to west), which makes it even more challenging than the highway section between Pitesti and Sibiu, which crosses the Carpathians from north to south.

The project will be partly financed with EU funds.

andrei@romania-insider.com

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