Moldovan transport minister highlights importance of investments in transport infrastructure

Chisinau, 1 April /MOLDPRES/ - An interview given by Transport and Roads Infrastructure Minister Vasile Botnari exclusively with the MOLDPRES State News Agency. 

[Moldpres]: Mr. Botnari, you have been appointed transport and road infrastructure minister for the second time. What are the priorities for the current mandate?

[Botnari]: To finalise the reforms and projects initiated in all sectors of the field I manage. Of course, we will also work to launch new projects. It is extremely important that investments in transport infrastructure continue at an alert pace and I think we will significantly advance in this respect on the next period.

[Moldpres]: You said, during a conference, that contracts for the restoration and construction of 330 kilometres of road will be signed this year. What will the major routes be and where will you get the funds?

[Botnari]: The auction plan for 2015 includes the rehabilitation of more national roads that ensure international transit. I am talking about finalising the Balti-Sarateni road reconstruction, unrepaired on a segment of 30 kilometres. For this segment of the road, the State Administration of Roads has recently signed a contract amounting to 36.3 million euros with a construction company from Portugal. Many asked us why this segment was not included when the entire highway from Chisinau to Balti was restored. The problem lied in landslides, this road is hit by. In the end, we ruled to choose strengthening the embankment by constructing drilled piles with a diameter of 1.2 meters, similar to those on the Sarateni-Soroca road. In some sectors, the road will be extended up to three lanes and a new road system will be built. The intersections will be landscaped, bridges will be demolished and built, underground and surface water collection and disposal systems will be developed.

Also this year, we will start rehabilitating the Balti-Falesti-Sculeni, Hincesti-Leova-Cahul, Soroca-Arionesti, Chisinau-Porumbrei-Cimislia, Chisinau-Dubasari-Poltava road segments, as well as the construction of bypass roads for the Comrat, Cimislia, Slobozia Mare, Vulcanesti, Bahmut settlements. I would mention that in implementing of projects for the rehabilitation of the road network, we put great emphasis on the construction of bypass roads to redirect heavy transport as much as we can.

To rehabilitate the 330 kilometres, we have secured funding amounting to 287 million euros from the loans of 150 million euros each, provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and European Investment Bank (EIB) in 2013. Also, we are at the last stage in getting a grant of 15 million euros from the European Commission (EC).

These are the last works we will put up for tender from the funding previously provided by the EBRD, the EIB and the EC and currently we are discussing with development partners to get new funding for roads.

[Moldpres]: Where will you invest the money from penalties imposed to companies that did not respect the timeframe?

[Botnari]: I would like to point out that delays represent an extremely negative phenomenon that severely affects us, and the accumulation of money from penalties is not our goal. The aim is to teach companies that win tenders to perform the work on time. In other words, the penalties are only a leverage we use to influence companies to fulfil their contractual obligations.

Nevertheless, because these large amounts were accumulated from penalties, together with the EBRD, we agreed to direct them to paying design works for new roads, so that later we could get financing easier. In total, up to this moment, penalties for delay worth 4.2 million euros have been calculated for construction companies. Of this sum, about two million euros have already been retained, - money that will be used for designing rehabilitation works on 500 kilometres of road. Also, from this sum, we will develop a feasibility study and projects for the construction of a bypass road for Chisinau on new segments, which do not exist.

[Moldpres]: How will the beltway for Chisinau look like and when will it be commissioned?

[Botnari]: I believe that the existence of a Chisinau bypass belt has become an absolute necessity and would partially solve the problem of traffic in the capital.

For citizens to benefit from the beltway as quickly as possible, we decided to move in two directions simultaneously. On the east side of the road, we started preparations to restore the present roads, extending them up to four lanes, and get to European standards. The road reconstruction works will start this spring, so that the first 33 kilometres of the capital’s beltway be operational in 2016.

At the same time, we are completing design aspects regarding the absent road portions. This is a segment with a length of approximately 35 kilometres. We are preparing procedures to start the feasibility study and projects. There are steps that we want to finish by the end of 2015, when the construction itself will start. On the west side of the belt, the construction of a new road from Tohatin, Coloniţa, Revaca, Ialoveni is proposed.

[Moldpres]: How much is planned for construction of the road and where will you get funds from?

[Botnari]: The total investment for the beltway is estimated at over 200 million euros, of which we have funding provided by European partners in the cumulative value of about 52 million euros, included in the procurement plan for this year.

According to the concept, the belt is divided into six sectors, of which three on the south-east of Chisinau are already included in the financing plan for 2015-2017 within the national road rehabilitation programme. For the 24 kilometres of road, tenders are underway and the investment amounts to 53 million euros.

For an additional 38 kilometres of roads, of which 29 kilometres will be built from scratch, we are seeking an  investment of about 170 million euros.

[Moldpres]: By how much will the road tax increase and why is this action necessary?

[Botnari]: The budgetary and fiscal policy of the Finance Ministry is considering increasing toll this year by 50 per cent. The money resulting from this increase will be redirected to repair local roads between villages and the urban area, which are in poor condition. Last year, we managed to asphalt roads in 700 villages of Moldova and for the first time ever we relied on the Road Fund. This effort must continue in Moldovan villages in 2015 as well.

Moldova needs investments in roads and therefore we need additional resources. This year, we have a chance to get substantial funding from our development partners, such as EBRD, and the amounts will increase, if we succeed to ensure a more serious co-financing.

The road tax increase will be felt most by the owners of expensive cars, with larger engines, but this is somehow normal. People with high incomes should contribute more to improving road infrastructure.

[Moldpres]: Media spread information about a possible leasing of Railways (CFM). What could you tell us about this?

[Botnari]: This is erroneous information, which is deliberately spread by certain groups, in order to create confusion. I said it for more times – the Railways is a strategic enterprise for Moldova and cannot be privatised or leased. At least, in the near future, such a scenario is not examined at all. At the same time, we make efforts to attract investments so necessary for developing the railway sector.

To revive the enterprise, the Transports Ministry has initiated a large-scale reform at CFM. An important feature of the reform plan is to modernise the infrastructure and rolling stock. We appealed to support of development partners, who voiced willingness to participate with an initial financing of 105 million euros. At the first stage, BERD will provide funds of 52.5 million euros, starting from 2015. EIB also showed interest in providing a similar loan. We talk about a credit provided in preferential conditions. Besides, following the approval of these two credits, the European Commission is willing to offer a five-million-euro-worth grant. These investments are the biggest in the railway sector over the past 25 years. If the first stage was successfully implemented, the banks have already announced willingness to expand the financing. This way, first of all, we will significantly increase the safety on railways. We will also raise the speed of trains and will diminish the time of transporting goods.

[Moldpres]: Which other low-cost flight companies are possibly to be attracted in Moldova in 2015?

[Botnari]: Thanks to accession to the European Common Aviation Area, Moldova has the great opportunity to change its air market’s status quo, by attracting an important transit flow and turning the Chisinau International Airport into a regional hub. In order to attract this flow of passengers, we, those from the Transport Ministry, will further boost the entry of new flight companies on the market, which are to bring decreases in ticket price.

Once the competition enhanced, but also due to the opening of direct flights from Chisinau, the air companies already present on the market will be forced to cut prices, in order to face new requirements, and the air transport will become more accessible for citizens.

[Moldpres]: How do you plan to develop the river transport?

[Botnari]: You know that the navigation on the Prut River up to Cahul was resumed in July 2014, after a 25-year stagnation. In July 2014, the navigation was opened up to Cantemir. We will continue the works on arranging the river bed in 2015, in order to allow navigating up to Leova and Ungheni. We plan to also clean the Dniester river bed, on which we are to navigate too.

The launching of export on the river is a cheaper alternative for farmers, who faced a deficit of wagons to export cereals on land over the past years. At the same time, the river transport is seven-fold cheaper than the motor one. We continued to work on modernising Giurgiulesti Free Port and increase its operational capacity, including at the adjacent infrastructure, such as: European rail gauge and access road to the port.

(Reporter C. Russu, Editor L. Alcaza)