Competition took place for Romania's most expensive highway in history • Opinia Buzău

The construction consortium led by the Turkish company Makyol won the construction contract for the most expensive motorway section in Romania, the Meseș section of the Transylvania Motorway, valued at 6.8 billion lei excluding VAT. Recently, Turkish companies have secured numerous large-scale infrastructure contracts. The consortium of Turkish companies Makyol Insaat Sanayi Turizm VE Ticaret AS and Ozaltin Insaat Ticaret VE Sanayi AS was awarded the design and construction works of the Poarta Sălajului-Zalau and Zalau-Nușfalău sections, for an amount of 6.62 billion lei (excluding VAT), as announced by Cristian Pistol, the CEO of CNAIR. Makyol is the second-largest construction contractor in Romania. The company is present on all four sections of the A13 Sibiu–Făgăraș segment as well as on the A7 Moldova Motorway's third section at the Spătaru–Buzău section in partnership with Nurol. Besides road infrastructure works, Makyol is collaborating with Alsim Alarko on the construction of the first section of the M6 Metro - Gara de Nord–Otopeni. Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu also announced on Facebook that the largest road transport infrastructure contract in Romania has been signed, covering the 41-kilometer sections of Poarta Sălajului-Zalau and Zalau-Nușfalău, and the 2.89 km long Meseș tunnel, the largest tunnel in the country: "Today we signed Romania's most expensive road infrastructure contract! The contract, worth 6.62 billion lei (excluding VAT), includes the construction of the Meseș tunnel (2.89 km), which will be the longest tunnel among Romania's motorways. The Turkish companies' alliance has a total of 78 months (18 months for design, 60 months for execution) to complete the 41 km Poarta Sălajului-Zalau and Zalau-Nușfalău sections (Transylvania Motorway). On this section of the A3 motorway, 65 viaducts, bridges, and passages will also be built, with a total length of approximately 13 km. The contract signing process can start within 10 days under the Financing Programme if no appeals are submitted," Grindeanu wrote on social media. The competitors for the "Meseș plot" included the Bacau-based UMB and the Italian WeBuild. However, UMB lost to the Turkish Makyol, marking the second largest loss for them in the last three to four years, following a defeat on the first section of the Craiova-Pitești expressway. According to information provided on the Pro Infrastructura Association Forum, the submitted bids were: Makyol 6.626 billion lei, WeBuild 6.838 billion lei, and UMB 7.479 billion lei, excluding VAT. The 41-kilometer Meseș section, located between Poarta Sălajului and Nușfalău, is the largest road construction contract ever launched. It is the last section of the Transylvania Motorway (A3) that has not yet been contracted out and includes the 3-kilometer Meseș tunnel, with an estimated cost between 7.4 and 8.8 billion lei. Under the contract, the construction of the two sections must be completed in 78 months, with 18 months allocated for design and 60 months for execution. The Meseș tunnel, registered as the country's longest motorway tunnel, is 2.89 km long and comprises two one-way tunnel sections, totaling 5.78 km. The project also includes the construction of 65 viaducts, bridges, and crossings, with a total length of approximately 13 km. The planned traffic speed for the tunnel is 120 km/h. The tender for the Poarta Sălajului–Zalau–Nușfalău section was opened on February 10, 2023, and by the end of August, seven proposals were submitted. These included UMB, in association with Bosnian company EuroAsfalt, WeBuild, and five Turkish contractors: Ictaș, Nurol, Mapa, Makyol–Ozaltin, and Tekfen. Ictaș and Tekfen did not disclose contracts with CNAIR, while Mapa, together with Cengiz, has already commenced preparatory works on the A1 Boița–Cornetu Section 2 between Sibiu and Pitești.