Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc has said that construction works on the Transylvania Highway will continue this year on two sectors, namely Gilau-Nadaselu and Suplacu de Barcau. Boc said money from the state budget has been earmarked to pay off debts to American company Bechtel, the constructor of the Transylvania Highway.

The prime minister said public road authority CNADNR and Bechtel are holding talks on setting prices considering cost standards, as well as on overdue debts and payment schedule. According to Boc, the Transylvania Highway is one of the Government's priorities.

On Monday, Bechtel started procedures to lay off over 800 Romanian employees working on the Transylvania Highway construction site. Collective layoff procedures were started at the end of 2010 and were to be applied as of January 20, but the company agreed to postpone layoffs for ten calendar days, at the request of the local labor inspectorate.

The construction of the Transylvania Highway, which links central Brasov to western Bors on the border with Hungary, started in 2004 based on a EUR 2.2 billion contract attributed to U.S. constructor Bechtel. Works were halted mid-2005, when authorities started looking into contracts concluded under the previous government. The deadline for the completion of works was extended until 2013 from the initial 2012.

Mediafax