In a recent interview for Agerpres, the Romanian Press Agency, Transport Minister Iulian Matache emphasized that Romanian authorities have proposed to EBRD, in talks that took place in London, investment projects worth almost EUR 14 bln.
“The transport infrastructure projects proposed for financing with EBRD are nine in the road transport sector, worth EUR 11 bln, and six in the railway transport sector, worth EUR 2.9 bln. So, we are talking about 15 projects worth a total of EUR 13.9 bln. Road infrastructure projects proposed for financing have a total length of 1,109 kilometres, while railway infrastructure projects have a total length of 731 kilometres,” the Transport Minister emphasized.
Each of the transport infrastructure projects proposed for financing from public loan is conceived as a mix of financing sources – 50 per cent public loans contracted from international financial institutions (EUR 6.9 bln), 25 per cent state budget funds (EUR 3.4 bln) and 25 per cent EU budget funds (EUR 3.4 bln).
Minister Matache also pointed out that the implementation of the whole package of projects included in the Transport Master Plan calls for a sum that cannot come solely from structural funds and the state budget, the mix of funds solution being found instead, entailing the involvement of international financial institutions. In other words, resorting to international loans. “These loans can be accessed if the structural reform clause is activated, namely if we are allowed to diverge from the budget deficit,” Matache pointed out.
“2016 is the year in which we will find out whether we can activate this clause, which would allow us to fulfil the whole package of projects for the 2016-2020 period. Considering the progress we are making, even though maybe not at the level of all expectations, we hope that in 2016 we will start implementing the optimistic scenario included in the Transport Master Plan, benefitting from the structural reform clause. I point out that EBRD has shown interest in the package of projects proposed,” Iulian Matache pointed out.
