General Transport Master Plan, approved by Government

The Romanian Government approved on February 25, 2015 the General Transport Master Plan which will be submitted to the EU Commission for fulfilment of ex ante conditionality, required to access structural funds.

Envisaging the strategy for developing Romania's road, rail, water, and air infrastructure, the GTMP includes projects estimated at 45.5 billion euro.

Based on the information presented by the Ministry of Transport, the existing financial resources for the GTMP come to 4.8 billion euro of which 2.7 billion euro from the Cohesion Fund (including state budget co-financing) and 2.1 billion euro from the European Fund for Regional Development, the full amount being destined to road infrastructure development.

Overall, the total available funds for the coming five years add up to 6.8 billion euro. Additional 7 billion euro will be obtained from loans, as well as from the excise duty on fuel collected, yet, they will also go to road projects, particularly motorways.

During the same government meeting, the Executive also approved the project implementation strategy, prioritizing a series of projects in terms of funds allocations, be it from the EU or the state budget.

On top of the Government's list on road infrastructure development are six motorway projects: Sibiu-Pitesti, Sibiu-Brasov, Brasov-Bacau, Targu Neamt – Pascani – Iasi – Ungheni, Brasov – Comarnic (Public Private Partnership), Pitesti-Craiova (PPP), or Suplacu de Barcau – Bors. With a total length of almost 1100 Km, these motorway projects require more than 20 percent (about 9.7 billion euro) of the total funds foreseen.

Prior to sending the financial scheme for the GTMP to the EU Commission, it will be presented before the Joint Transport Committees within the Parliament.