The European Commission is investigating the award - without a tender - of a $2.5bn (2bn-euro) contract to the US company Bechtel, to build the Brasov-Bors motorway, according to the Financial Times.
The motorway, which is set to connect Romania to Western Europe with American support, is about to become the "apple of discord" between the Romanian State and the European Union, as accession negotiations are in full swing.
Last December, Bechtel signed a contract to design, build and finance the Brasov-Bors motorway, hailed by the Ministry of Transports, Constructions and Tourism as a public-private partnership between the Romanian State and the American company.
"This case is being investigated by the European Commission. The file has reached Brussels, where more details are available," say the officials of the European Commission Delegation in Romania. The contract signed by the Romanian authorities and the American company is "a case" that has reached the European Union, which wants to check whether Romania (an EU candidate country) meets its commitments from the chapters that have already been negotiated and closed, such as Chapter IX on infrastructure. The Europeans are suspicious because no public procurement process was organised by the Ministry of Transports, Constructions and Tourism, and they feel the deal might have been of a political rather than commercial nature.
"The contract was awarded (to Bechtel, i.e.) based on the agreement signed by the Romanian and US Governments for the infrastructure projects. As it was deemed a strategic project, there was an exemption from Ordinance 60/2000 on public acquisitions, with an emergency ordinance having been issued in this regard. The contract was awarded under a very transparent process, with all its stages having been revealed to the media," replied Manuela Radulescu, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Transports, Constructions and Tourism.
According to officials of the US Embassy in Bucharest, "the Romanian Government decided to start talks with Bechtel based on the company's extensive experience with this particular type of projects, whereas the US Embassy recommended the Government issue a tender for the project. We feel that Bechtel was prepared to successfully participate in this project."
Bechtel officials could not be contacted by press time.
The story began in October 2001, when a delegation from the American company arrived in Bucharest to discuss infrastructure projects, as Miron Mitrea, the minister of Transports, Constructions and Tourism, has recently said.
adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro
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