The A3 Nădășelu-Zimbor-Poarta construction site is almost deserted. If in the autumn of last year, the pace of work was impressive for Romania, now the chances of being included in the PNRR benchmarks are minimal, say the specialists from the Pro Infrastructure Association.
The A3 Nădășelu-Zimbor-Poarta construction site is almost deserted. PHOTO: API
The Pro Infrastructure Association makes an analysis regarding the progress of works on the A3 Nădășelu-Zimbor-Poarta: “desolate landscape, (almost) deserted construction site. The shirking of responsibility by CNAIR officials, combined with their legendary incompetence in conducting tenders and with the contractor UMB stretched far beyond capacity, turned these two initially leading batches, with purely theoretical chances to fit into the PNRR benchmarks!”
The contracts were signed with UMB on 26.06.2020 (Zimbor-Poarta Sălajului), respectively on 22.09.2020 (Nădășelu-Zimbor) and both provide for 12 months of design and another 24 months of execution. So, the initial deadlines provided for the opening of the 42.3 kilometers at the end of 2023.
The fateful moment
“Without waiting for the bureaucracy, those from UMB au started the construction site like a gun and we had high hopes that they would honor their initialed commitments in 2020. But the fateful moment came in September 2021: a mammoth landslide in Nădășelu near the cemetery, literally. And since then dust has been chosen“, the analysis shows.
Later, a similar problem appeared in the Topa Mică area. “And CNAIR delayed a year and a half the decision on remedial solutions. In an apotheotical end, in the spring of 2023, the decision was made to withdraw from the contract and bid separately for the two solutions”the cited source shows.
The procurement procedure was launched at the beginning of August 2023, and although it was believed that UMB would win the tender, the company did not even submit a bid. Why? “Probably because they're jammed into 388 kilometers of highway and expressway that they can't take at their usual pace”say API specialists.
The A3 Nădășelu-Zimbor-Poarta construction site is almost deserted. PHOTO: API
Besides, delaying the auction suits them just fine, having a reason for further postponements. Left with a swollen lip, CNAIR receives only one bitter offer from Ozaltin (Turkey), only in January 2024 – the analysis also shows.
Even to this day we don't have a winner! “CNAIR he sleeps in his slippers and only promises that we will have a winner at the end of March, beginning of April. Which…obviously…can only be Ozaltin. That is, unless the Turks' offer is inadmissible and we would have a situation of laughable stunts“, say the specialists.
“Hard to believe that we could fit into the current PNRR milestone”
The contractual term for design and execution of the solutions from Nădășelu and Topa Mică is two years and 3 months. Even if they initialed with Ozaltin in April, taking into account the necessary bureaucracy (expropriations, environmental agreement) and the reduced force of the builder, it is hard to believe that we could fit into the current PNRR milestone: towards the end of 2026 – says API .
Moreover, without the node from Românași, the Zimbor-Porta Sălajului section is “a wonderful museum”. “Bașca, we still have other bureaucratic obstacles: the environmental agreement is under review (10 hectares of forest to be cleared in addition), and in Sutoru, where the highway is stuck to the houses, we do not have sound-absorbing panels” – say the specialists.
With too many contracts in the portfolio and too few forces stretched to the maximum on the A7 Motorway, the Timișoara Belt and the Galați-Brăila, UMB reduced the mobilization to zero on the A3 Nădășelu-Poarta, after we saw a little while ago that they had left completely from T4 DEx12 Craiova-Pitesti.
The A3 Nădășelu-Zimbor-Poarta construction site is almost deserted. PHOTO: API
“The bottom line? Only by a small miracle can these two lots still be opened in 2026, according to PNRR requirements, and the risk of losing European money is maximum”concludes the quoted analysis.
