Works start on new road bridge over Danube-Black Sea Canal

State Secretary with the Transport Ministry Marin Anton on July 5 inaugurated construction works on a new road bridge over the Danube-Black Sea canal, in the couth-eastern county of Constanta, which will be located downstream the Agigea lock. Spokesperson for the National Constanta Maritime Port Administration (CNAPMC) Monica Velicu says the bridge, an investment project worth nearly 23 million euros, was initiated in 2005 and its construction now is secured by structural funds under the European Union’s Transport Sectoral Operational Programme. The project is included in Romania’s programme for the upgrading and development of national transport infrastructure outside the TEN-T priority axes for the development of a sustainable national transport system. “Works include the construction of the bridge, which will be located downstream the Agigea lock, access viaducts, access ways to the port and a junction with the ring-road of Constanta City, as well as railway level crossings, parking lots and the buildings at gates 7 and 10 of the port,” said Velicu. The new 900-m long bridge, with a 100-m span, over the canal is designed to ease up heavy traffic in the central parts of Constanta City. The investment, which is expected to complete in one year, is said to bring the added advantage of linking the southern parts of the Constanta Port to the Bucharest-Constanta motorway, as well as linking the two parts of the port and discarding heavy traffic in downtown Constanta.

Gov't approves construction of two motorways

Agerpres, Romanian Economic Highlights, June 21. The Romanian Government approved the technical and economic indicators for the construction of the Orastie-Sibiu and Lugoj-Deva motorways, running toward western Romania, Government spokesperson Ioana Muntean reported on June 17. The decision was made at a meeting of the Government the day before. Funding for the two motorways will be provided in the form of grants from the European Commission – 85 percent of the total – and allocations from the Transport Ministry – 15 percent. The two motorways are part of the 872-km Corridor IV linking Nadlac in western Romania to Constanta, southeastern Romania. Total investment in the two projects is put at 4.5 billion euros.

Senate: Romania will contract EIB loan to expand subway network in Drumul Taberei quarter

Agerpres, Romanian Economic Highlights, June 21. The Senate’s plenary meeting passed on June 16 a draft law providing that Romania will borrow 395 million euros from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for expanding the subway network in the Drumul Taberei area in Bucharest. State Secretary with the Public Finance Ministry (MFP) Alexandru Nazare pointed out during the plenary debates that the amount will be released in 8 tranches, with the last one being scheduled for December 31, 2014. The contract between EIB and Romania was signed on November 12, 2009. The draft law that targets the construction of a 9-kilometer subway main line between Drumul Taberei and Universitate and Drumul Taberei – Pantelimon is to be completed in 2015. Furthermore, the program also stipulates the purchase of 37 new trains, of which 27 will run on the future subway route. The amount necessary for this project is put at 883 million euros, of which the direct financing from the state budget reaches 488 million euros. The Senate is the final decision-making body in this case.

15 million euro investments in Romania-Bulgaria cross-border roads

Agerpres, Romanian Economic Highlights, June 7. The county roads in the cross-border region of Olt County (southern Romania) and Pleven, Bulgaria, will be modernized through investments of European funds amounting to more than 14 million euros. Chairman of the Olt County Council Paul Stanescu made it clear that two projects were declared eligible and were in the pre-contracting stage. These projects refer to the rehabilitation of two county roads in Romania and two in Bulgaria, both being near the border. The total value of the projects exceeds 15 million euros, of which more than 14 million euros are non-repayable funds. They will rehabilitate 13 km of County Road (DJ) 543 between Corabia and Izbiceni, Olt County, and 11 km of Road III 3402 between Slavionovo and Pordim, Bulgaria. They will modernize 12 km of DJ 544 between Urzica and Stefan cel Mare, Old County, and 13.2 km of Road III 3004 between Trastenik and Orekhovitza, all of them situated in the border region between Romania and Bulgaria. The Olt County Council will contribute funds amounting to a total value of 165,000 euros to these investments. This will be the co-financing part. The National Agency for Road Infrastructure in Bulgaria will contribute a similar sum of money to co-financing this investment. These projects are being carried out through the Romania-Bulgaria Cross-Border Cooperation Programme, a programme through which some professional training projects were also carried out and a cereal stock exchange is to be built at Corabia. The modernization and rehabilitation of the roads in the cross-border area is to be begin in 2011 after financing contracts are signed and tenders are held. This latter process may take a few months.

Over 293 mln tons of freight transported by road in Romania last year

Agerpres, Romanian Economic Highlights, May  25. As many as 293.409 million tons of freight were transported by road in Romania last year, of which 283.272 million tons were shipped on national routes, 7.957 million tons to international destinations and 2.18 million tons of freight were in transit, according to the statistics made public on the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry website. Moreover, 262.311 million passengers opted for road transport in 2009, of which 259.443 million passengers had a national destination and 2.868 million an international one.

Passenger rail and road traffic falls over 10 pct in 2009

Agerpres, Romanian Economic Highlights, May 10. The passenger rail traffic went down by 10.1 percent last year to nearly 70.3 million passengers against the previous year and by around 6 times compared to 1990, when it stood at 407 million passengers, according to data of the National Statistics Institute (INS). Present on the passenger rail transport market is the CFR Calatori national carrier, as well as private companies Transferoviar, Regiotrans etc. It was not only the passenger rail transport that dropped last year, but also the rail freight transport, which fell by 24 percent last year, to some 50.6 million tons, according to the same source. The rail freight traffic stood at 218 million tons of goods in 1990, down fourfold in 19 years, according to the data of the National Statistics Institute and the estimations of the Ziarul Financiar daily. As many as 45.4 million tons of goods were transported by railroad on internal routes last year, down by 17.4 percent against the previous year, while the freight traffic dropped by more than two times on the international routes. CFR Marfa state-owned company that saw its market share shrank from 75 percent in 2008 to 51 percent last year competes on the rail transport market with companies like Grup Feroviar Roman (Romanian Railway Group) and Unifetrans.

24.7 m tonnes of goods transported on Danube in 2009

Bucharest, May 9 / Agerpres / - A quantity of 24.743 million tonnes of goods were transported on the Danube, in 2009, according to Ministry of Transport statistics. Around 8.84 million tonnes of goods were transported on national routes and 6.382 million tonnes on the international ones, with the remaining representing transit. As regards the passengers, there were 161,000 people traveling on the Danube last year, accounting for 20.473 million passengers per km. Danube is measuring 1,075 km in length on the Romanian territory, with branches measuring 524 km in length.

Private investments in Romania’s south-eastern Black Sea Port of Constanta will reach 750 million US dollars over 2009 - 2010, said Ioan Balan, director general of the National Company Constanta Maritime Ports Administration, on the occasion of the Constanta Port Day celebrated in Krems (Austria). "The port of Constanta obtained European funding for carrying out some major investments: the 1,050m extension of the offshore breakwater and the construction of the 1,050 meter bridge over the Danube - Black Sea Canal. I must also tell you that private investments over 2009 – 2010 in the Port of Constanta will reach 750 million dollars," said Balan. “The Constanta Port Day in Krems", organized on April 15 in Austria by the National Company Constanta Maritime Ports Administration, gathered 200 representatives of numerous Austrian transport and logistics companies, as well as from the Constanta Port business milieu. The Romanian delegation was headed by Secretary of State with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (MTI) Marin Anton. The Romanian official underscored that the overall objective of the transport strategy is the balanced development of the national transportation system so as to ensure a modern and enduring infrastructure and transportation services, the sustainable development of economy and the improvement of life quality. "Our intention is to get the Constanta Port among the top four European ports. To this end, we suggest the construction of dams 3 and 4 South, which would reclaim approximately 50 hectares from the sea, representing also a development potential of new specialized terminals," said the MTI Secretary of State. Among the Romanian Ministry’s objectives, the carrying on of works on the Danube - Bucharest Canal are a challenge. The contract for updating the feasibility and technical expert’s assessment of the already completed constructions was signed in September 2009 and has September 2010 as completion deadline. With a view to having works on the Danube - Bucharest Canal completed, the authorities will consider leasing works out. The Secretary of State stressed that the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure is actively involved in conceiving the Strategy for the Danube Region. The Government approved in March this year Romania’s official stance on the European Danube Strategy. Source: Agerpres.

At the end of 2009, the first year of economic crisis, the Constanta National Maritime Ports Administration Company (CNAPMC) reported a drop by one third in the traffic through Romanian ports from the previous year; yet encouraged by recent reinvigoration signs in the ports’ throughput, the company’s management announced investments in infrastructure worth tens of millions of euros for 2010. “In the first 11 months of the year, the total throughput in the Romanian sea ports was 38.3 million tons, by 33% less than in 2008. Of the total traffic, maritime traffic reached a volume of 31.25 million tons, while the river traffic was 7.1 million tons. I estimate that the total throughput was 42 million tons at the end of 2009,” said CNAPMC general manager Ioan Balan, who sadly recalled the good times of 2008, which marked a 20-year throughput peak. According to official data, the container traffic was affected by the steepest decline, whereas the cereal throughput was however up. Specifically, while container traffic dropped to 550.101 TEU (5.4 million tons) from 1.29 million TEU (11.2 million tons) of goods in the first 11 months of the previous year, grain throughput helped keep port activity afloat, with a volume of 9.5 million tones, up from the 5.4 million tons recorded in 2008. According to CNAPMC official figures, a quantity of 3.7 million tons of oil and 770,000 tons of timber moved through the port of Constanta, these figures being almost equal to those recorded in 2008. At the same time, the flows of ferrous metals and solid fuels through the Constanta Port fell from 10.9 million tons in late November 2008 to 3.5 million tons in 2009. Ioan Balan announced that works on the 1,050m-long expansion of the breakwater off the Constanta shore (an investment of 121,000,000 euros) and the construction of the road bridge at milestone km 0+540 of the Danube - Black Sea Canal (requiring 832,287 for consultancy and the bridge design plus 19,444,472.09 euros for effective works) would start in 2010. The rail capacity in the river-sea sector will also be expanded and a set of investments by private operators, in excess of 400 million euros, will also be finalized. Another ambitious project of the company is that of building an artificial island in the Constanta South Port with the earth excavated from the Danube - Black Sea Canal. According to the feasibility study, the estimated value of the project is 34 million euros, an amount that could be supplemented by 252 million euros by setting new wharf and port areas in place to conduct various activities so as to best capitalize on the artificial island’s potential. Source: Agerpres.

Twelve percent more passengers traveled by the airlines operational on the Traian Vuia Airport of Timisoara (western Romania) in 2009, its activity peak being attained in Aug when it totaled 111,751 passengers, by 23 % more compared to August 2008. The rise in the number of passengers was the result of the growth in the occupancy level of the planes, and not of a larger number of flights, the airport’s manager Alexandru Chirila said. The Timisoara-based airport operated 11,442 flights in 2009, by 3.15 % more than in 2008. The number of flights was constantly growing starting June, the peak being scored in Sept with 2,345 flights. The seven new destinations namely Perugia, Cernauti, Valencia, Bergamo, Treviso and Barcelona also contributed to the airport’s success. Its revenues and turnover grew by 30 and 24 %, respectively. “For 2010 we plan to develop the airport and to increase the number of passengers, but also to bring back to Timisoara several airlines that decided to give us up,” the Traian Vuia Airport official stressed. Source: Agerpres.

The railway passenger traffic was by 13% smaller in 2009 than a year before, because the rehabilitation works for the railway infrastructure of sectors such as Bucharest North – Constanta and Campina – Predeal, as well as due to the current social and economic circumstances, reads the (CFR) Calatori Romanian Railways Company’s activity review of 2009. In the context, the Company expects total revenues worth 98 % up in 2009 compared to 2008, while the revenues earned from the public railway transport decreased by 12 % in 2009 compared to the previous year. The total costs aimed at ensuring the continuity of a safe public railway transport in 2009, are expected to pose for 98 % than that in 2008. Throughout the year 2009, the expenditures for materials, fuel, repairs and trains were severely curbed compared to 2008. As many as 1,594 trains were put daily in circulation for the public railway transport in 2009, the Company adopting the policy of adjusting the transport capacity so that it should meet the market demands, with a view to keeping an expenditure/revenues ratio as small as possible. To grow the comfort level of the passenger trains and to meet the EU standards of the railway passenger transport, CFR Calatori continued the re-equipment programs it had started over the years before, and bought 44 new coaches, 130 upgraded passenger wagons, 17 upgraded LE and LDH engines, a new inter-operational engine, and two updated electric frames. Source: Agerpres.

The Comarnic-Brasov motorway section will be inaugurated in four years, that is in January 2014, and the operation, construction, financing and design costs amount to 4.8 billion euros, declared on Jan.18 Dana Galben, Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure concessions director, upon signing the concession agreement with the Vinci and Aktor companies. The procedures for this agreement started in 2003, and meanwhile a tender for this 4.7 billion euro concession - the first of such broad scale and impressive value - was annulled. The discussions between the representatives of the Ministry of Transport and the Vinci-Aktor consortium regarding the agreement’s conclusion came to a standstill at the end of last year, because of the constructor’s claims, which would have exceeded the initial offer, declared winner. The failure of the negotiations could have led to an at least two-year postponement of the works. According to the initial agenda, the works should start in the summer of 2010, the road section being finalized until 2014. The Vinci-Aktor consortium should design, finance and build the Comarnic-Brasov motorway, and manage the 55-kilometre section for a 30-year period in exchange for a fee paid by the users starting from the fifth year of the concession. The consortium will concede the Comarnic-Brasov motorway at a construction price of 1.57 billion euros. Starting with the fifth year of the concession period, over a 26-year time span, the Romanian State will carry out availability payments to the concession holder, with a value of 180 million euros per year, which amounts to a value of 4.7 billion euros. The fee paid by users starting with the fifth year of concession, after the opening of the motorway, will be 1.75 euro/axle/100 kilometers, which means that in order to go through the 55-kilometre section, approximately five euros per year will be paid for a car. At the end of the 30-year concession period, the Comarnic-Brasov road-section is returned under State property, a move followed by two alternatives: either a further concession, or the management of the highway section. Source: Agerpres.