ROMANIA A3 MOTORWAY - RRF CO-FINANCING

The project concerns the construction of about 42 km of the new greenfield A3 motorway between the towns of Nadaselu and Poarta Salajului in the Northwest of Romania, which is part of the comprehensive Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).

The project will generate multiple economic benefits, notably in terms of time saving, safety improvement and vehicle operating cost reduction.

The proposed project concerns the construction of 42 km of a new greenfield section of the A3 motorway between the towns of Nadaselu and Poarta Salajului in the Northwest of Romania.

The Project is located on the comprehensive TEN-T Network in a Cohesion region of Romania (NUTS RO113 and NUTS RO116). The Project addresses the market/network failure related to accessibility along the comprehensive TEN-T Network. The project is expected to generate economic benefits from time savings, safety improvements and vehicle operating cost reductions.

The project benefits from PASU (Project Advisory Support Unit) Technical Assistance to the Managing Authority. In addition to the project advisory support, the EIB loan at more favourable conditions in comparison to the financial market, in particular longer tenors and lower interest rate will have a significant impact on the operation. The EIB loan is expected to leverage RRF funds amounting to EUR 261m thus contributing to the project acceleration.

The project falls under Annex I of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive 2011/92/EU and a mandatory EIA Report was elaborated. The Environmental decision was issued by the competent authority in November 2017. The project alignment does not cross any Natura 2000 sites and is situated in the vicinity of one Natura 2000 site, ROSCI0209 Racâs - Hida, located 4km from the project. The Appropriate Assessment was carried out in September 2016. Land acquisition is already completed and paid. The implementation of the EIA and Habitats Directives requirements will be analysed during the appraisal of the project.

All the contracts have been awarded and signed with no litigation issues concerning these tender procedures. The works have started in May 2021. The Bank will require the promoter to ensure that contracts for implementation of the project have been tendered in accordance with the applicable EU procurement legislation, Directive 2014/24/EU as well as Directive 89/665/EEC as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the EU, with publication of tender notices in the EU Official Journal, as and where required.