Miruță sent the Control Body to CNAIR, after the company lost over 340 million lei in an arbitration regarding the Sebeș–Turda Highway
Radu Miruță, the Minister of Transport, sent the Control Body to CNAIR, after the company lost over 340 million lei in an arbitration regarding the works on the Sebeș-Turda Highway.
Sebeș–Turda highway PHOTO FB CNAIR
Moreover, for the situation at the National Road Infrastructure Administration Company, the Court of Accounts will also be referred to assess the damage and identify those responsible.
The announcement was made by State Secretary Horațiu Cosma, who stated that the situation raises serious questions.
“The road company lost, at least questionably, more than 340 million lei in an arbitration on the Sebeș-Turda Highway. Public money. That is, money from the pocket of every Romanian“, Cosma wrote on Facebook on Thursday evening.
The reception of the works, decisive in the loss of the arbitration
Horațiu Cosma explained that Lot 1 of the highway, started in 2014 and had to be completed in 2016 for 540 million lei.
“It was only opened in 2020, after 4 years of delay.In November 2021, the current director of CNAIR, Cristian Pistol, signed an agreement with the Italian builders: the works were accepted, and the builders were to limit the possible penalties from the arbitration to 150 million lei. However, in the meantime, we have all seen the “quality” of the received works: landslides, closed and reconstructed highway sections, displaced bridges, bumps and a lot of potholes. is shown in the same message.
Cosma states that, in his first mandate at Transport, he and former minister Cătălin Drula asked the builder to remedy the deficiencies and opposed the reception of non-compliant works:
“I did not agree with the reception of poorly executed works. After us came Mr. Pistol and, a few weeks after taking office, he “unblocked” the situation. He received the works. Moreover, employees of CNAIR then refused to accept the works, but their voices were silenced. And the surprise came with the arbitrary sentence: CNAIR must pay not 150 million, as it had signed, but more than 340 million lei. The arbitrator did not take into account the agreement signed by Cristian Pistol, because it would not have respected the legal rigors – it was not legalized nor properly presented in the arbitration. Practically, the Romanians paid twice. Once through the highway they couldn't use during the 4 years of delays. And, two, through higher penalties than had been originally established”.
“Negligence? Incompetence? Or something else?”
The Secretary of State says that CNAIR requested the payment of this arbitration from public money.
Last week, CNAIR sent requests to the Ministry of Transport for the payment of this arbitration from public money. This situation cannot be overlooked. The Minister of Transport, Radu Miruță, sends the Control Body to CNAIR to check the whole situation. The conclusions will be sent urgently to the competent bodies. In addition, the Court of Accounts will also be referred to assess the damage and identify those responsible. Every day we open doors in the Ministry of Transport and discover serious problems hidden under the rug. The difference between us and the exponents of Romania's budgetary disaster is that we don't look back and make fun of Romanians. We clean to the end”it is also shown in the post.
