Cluj Metropolitan Belt, reason for legal conflicts and accusations of fraud. Boc: “Solve the dispute in a maximum of ten days”
The strategic project of the Cluj Metropolitan Belt is at a critical moment, after the tensions between the companies involved in the tender were brought to the attention of the public. The association formed by DIMEX 2000 COMPANY SRL, Hydrostroy AD and Integral Inženjering AD Laktasi is involved in a conflict regarding the legality of the documents submitted to the auction, and Cluj-Napoca City Hall has temporarily suspended the contract until the situation is clarified.
The Cluj Metropolitan Belt project is facing a major scandal PHOTO: FB/ Emil Boc
In an official statement, the leader of the association, DIMEX 2000 COMPANY SRL, rejects any accusation of falsification and claims that all the documents submitted during the auction are compliant, including the Association Agreement signed at the notary. The company representatives state that: “Absolutely all the documents submitted during the auction, including the Association Agreement drawn up and validated by a notary, are compliant. The state authority verified, according to the legislation in force, the identity and signature right of each legal representative, ensuring their full legal validity.”
The company added that the emails presented in the public space never belonged to DIMEX and that the dialogue held by Integral with third parties represents an incident of the type “impersonation“, for which they are not responsible. DIMEX claims it has the technical and financial capacity to complete the project, regardless of the internal disputes of the Bosnian minority partner, which owns only 1% of the joint venture.
Integral Inženjering: Allegations of fraud and identity theft
For its part, the company Integral Inženjering AD Laktasi claims that it became the victim of a forgery, after documents in its name were submitted without authorization in the tender for the Cluj Metropolitan Ring, valued at over 835 million euros. According to a company statement: “None of our authorized representatives signed or authorized anyone to sign the Association Agreement for the construction of the belt. After discovering the situation, we informed the competent Romanian authorities, including the Prosecutor's Office and the National Anticorruption Directorate, about the use of our false documentation.”
Integral claims that the incident constitutes identity theft and claimed that its documents, combined with fabricated or altered ones, were illegally used in the public procurement procedure.
Cluj-Napoca City Hall: temporary suspension and deadline for clarification
The city hall intervened quickly, notifying the leader of the DIMEX/Hydrostroy/Integral association about the need to clarify the legal situation within 10 working days, until February 24, 2026. According to officials, the suspension of the contract does not mean the definitive termination of the works, and the European funding remains unaffected.
Mayor Emil Boc, in a video post on Facebook, explained: “I requested the two associates of the Cluj Metropolitan Belt project, Dimex and Integral, to resolve the contractual dispute they have within a maximum of ten working days. If they do not do this, I will ask the specialized departments to analyze the unilateral termination of the contract. The metropolitan belt project is of major importance for Cluj and we cannot wait for two companies, I would say at least irresponsible, to delay the people of Cluj“.
Video source: Facebook/ Emil Boc
The mayor emphasized that the auction was won by Dimex only under the conditions in which the association included Integral, and if its presence is not legally valid, then the entire auction could be challenged.
Pro Infrastructure: DIMEX is right
The Pro Infrastructure Association claims that the leader of the association, DIMEX, is acting correctly and that the entire Bosnian clearly refused to participate, which would make the association's offer inadmissible if it were not for the notarized documents: “Without the actual agreement of the Bosnian partner, the essential qualification criterion – experience in tunneling – was not met by the Dimex-led consortium. The percentage of participation cited in the press is irrelevant; Integral's role was the critical element of the bid's eligibility.”
