VIDEO In December, the first road built by the Chinese in Romania was inaugurated in Transylvania, with a long delay and a fine of almost 2 million euros

Two-and-a-half-year deadline + two-and-a-half years of delays: a 5.5-kilometer, one-lane road that was supposed to be ready by March 2023 will open to traffic in December.

Zalău Municipality Ring Road, a new road of about 5.5 km with one lane in each direction, which bypasses the Transylvanian city on the South-East side, has been in the works since September 2020.

The 186 million lei contract was signed with the association Sinohydro Corporation Limited – SC Good Prood SRL – it was the first new road construction project signed with a Chinese company.

Sinohydro is a Chinese state-owned construction company and a subsidiary of the giant PowerChina, a conglomerate with a turnover of almost 100 billion dollars a year, controlled and fully owned by China. From 2021, Romania decided that Chinese companies can no longer participate in tenders in our country.

CNAIR's explanations

“The initial deadline for completion was 25.03.2023, and the new deadline for putting it into traffic is the beginning of December, respectively 03.12.2025,” the National Road Infrastructure Administration Company (CNAIR) sent to HotNews.

The new road near Zalău, although a short one and with only one lane in each direction (two in the climbing areas), is quite difficult to build. It runs through a hilly area with many valleys and involved the construction of 5 viaducts, 5 bridges and two roundabouts at each end.

The design and works, which started in September 2020, had a deadline of two and a half years. The accumulated delays reach even more.

HotNews sent a series of questions to the Chinese manufacturer, but by the time the article was published, it had not received a response.

Penalties of 4% of the contract value so far

Asked about the delays, the Road Company claims that it has applied penalties to the builder and that CNAIR's claims will take into account the entire period of delay that will be calculated on the date of final acceptance of the project.

“Until now, the contractor has been penalized by CNAIR in the amount of 8,390,000 lei for unfulfilled contractual obligations regarding the mobilization of personnel and equipment. CNAIR's claim regarding the exceeding of the execution period is of continuous effect and will be closed at the moment when the reception will be carried out at the completion of the works. Only then will it be able to be Quantified”, CNAIR sent at the request of HotNews. VIDEO – What the Zalău Belt looks like now, before the inauguration:

“Poor mobilization of the contractor plus disputes with CNAIR” led to the huge delay

“Vine is divided,” independent observers claim for HotNews. “Somewhere three-quarters is the builder's fault and about a quarter is the authorities' fault. There were many disputes between the contractor and CNAIR, and at one point there was a gap of 30 percentage points between the physical state and the financial state. Normally, these differences between the physical and financial state are 10-15%, 30% is too much. This means that they were not paid on time,” explained Ionuț Ciurea from the Pro Infrastructure Association (API), one of the most active non-governmental organizations monitoring the implementation of large infrastructure projects.

“Indeed, the builder was poorly mobilized from the start. They had a hard time with the bureaucracy here, they didn't have fixer (no person who facilitates the integration into the local legislation and economy of a foreign company entering the local market). It probably also mattered that during the development of the contract it was decided that Chinese companies could no longer receive contracts. It's hard to say how much it mattered in the equation, but it was a relevant thing, the fact that the Chinese can't get any more contracts from us. The weak mobilization of the contractor plus the disputes with CNAIR and, of course, the lack of payments – everything went hard and very hard”, believes Ciurea.

“Two and a half years late is a shame”

As for the complexity of the project, although a short road, but perched on the hills, the Pro Infrastructura representative says that this aspect should not have mattered so much as to justify such a delay.

“Let's face it, it's a total failure, it's a shame. You were once again leading the way from a technical point of view during this period as late as it was. Two and a half years late is a shame. I've said it before: the myth of the Chinese coming to Romania and breaking the clouds is shattered. And it wasn't shattered only here, but also in Poland and in other parts,” says Ciurea.

“Yes, the road is more complex, but even taking into account the more difficult relief issues, the normal problems, with the relocation of utilities, with the bureaucracy, with the expropriations, the technical issues, it's still too much. There are no tunnels, there is no highway… However, two and a half years, my God!”, says the representative of the civic organization.

As for the penalties applied so far, they represent about 4% of the 186 million lei contract, but the civil society representative claims that the builder could also invoke claims, financial claims in court.

“The CNAIR penalties can also be attacked. In turn, the builders can make claims. Obviously, many builders also attack and then they are judged and go to arbitration. It is clear, it is a project that went wrong, they tried to minimize their costs, I don't know if they will make the calculated profit, if the Chinese company will earn something or not, because these are claims after all”, says Ciurea.

The new section of about 5.5 km is to complete the current ring road of Zalău, which is about 8 km long and has limited utility in the absence of the construction of the segment between Aghireș and the Zalău-Cluj national road (climbing the Meseș hill).

Zalău belt

• Length: 5.53 km
• MANUFACTURER: Association SINOHYDRO CORPORATION LIMITED (CHINA) – SC GOOD PROOD SRL
• Value: 186 million lei
• Start of contract: September 2020 (6 months design and 24 months execution)
• Work started: April 2021
• Official completion deadline: March 23, 2023
• Updated deadline: December 3, 2025
• Current Status: 92%

Chinese companies, banned from infrastructure auctions in Romania / Two exceptions

Romania decided as early as 2021 to exclude Chinese companies from public tenders for infrastructure projects. However, the decision from that time could only be applied to new public procurement procedures launched after that moment.

However, there are currently two exceptions, two projects where the builders are from China.

The Chinese from Synohidro are working on the Zalău belt, who had already signed the contract in 2020, before the Government's decision. The works were considerably delayed. Against the March 2023 completion deadline, traffic opening will take place in December 2025.

The other exception is on the A0 North highway, Lot 3, where the Chinese from the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation are working – a contract signed in 2023 on a tender launched as early as 2019. Although the deadline for completion is February 2026, the highway section will not be opened until the summer or autumn of 2026.

Apart from these two examples, Chinese construction companies are no longer involved in other projects in Romania and could no longer enter tenders launched after 2021.

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