ROMANIA A7 MOTORWAY - RRF CO-FINANCING

The project concerns the construction of about 320 km of the new greenfield A7 motorway between the towns of Ploiesti and Pascani in Eastern Romania, which is part of the Core 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 319 km of the new A7 motorway between the towns of Ploiesti and Pascani in Eastern Romania. The Project addresses the market/network failure related to accessibility along the core TEN-T Network in the less developed regions of Nord-Est (NUTS RO21), Sud-Est (NUTS RO22) and Sud-Muntenia (NUTS RO31). 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 and limited support from JASPERS at project preparation. In addition to advisory support, the Bank's more favourable conditions of the EIB loan (in particular a longer maturity and lower interest than available on the market) have a significant impact on the operation. The EIB loan will partially finance the State contribution to the project alongside RRF funds of EUR 1,947m.

The project falls under Annex I of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive 2011/92/EU as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU and is therefore subject to EIA procedure. Environmental decisions for all the project sections have already been issued between 2021 and 2022. The project alignment crosses and/or affects 31 Natura 2000 sites. Appropriate Assessments have already been carried out between November 2020 and November 2021. Particular attention during the appraisal will be on foreseen measures for mitigating any potential negative impact on Natura 2000 specific conservation objectives.

The EIB will require the promoter to ensure that contracts for implementation of the project have been and will be 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.