The transport projects in our country, financed with 12 billion euros during the mandate of Adina Vălean

In the last five years, the European Commission has allocated approximately 12 billion euros for transport infrastructure projects in our country, said Adina Vălean, European Commissioner for Transport, yesterday in the balance conference at the end of the mandate.

Adina Vălean said: "Of course, the position of European commissioner does not require you to work exclusively for the country you come from. I could probably hold such press conferences in other European countries and say what I have done new and what is the positive impact for other states of the European Union. But, because I am here in Bucharest, I am pleased to say a few things about the impact for Romania: a total of 12 billion euros have been allocated to transport during my mandate, through various financial instruments, including the one that I manage directly . From the European Interconnection Mechanism, we allocated over 850 million for 26 projects. It is an unprecedented amount. That is why I insist, in addition to those who are in charge of the Government of Romania, that this money be used in the sense in which the projects for which they are allocated are carried out on time. We are talking about the volume of money obtained in the European interconnection mechanism, the funds that we managed directly. Romania is the 6th country in terms of the allocation of funds in the European Union, after Poland, Italy, France, Germany and the Czech Republic".

His lordship stated that our country received a new pan-European transport corridor, the North-South corridor, which connects the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea.

Mrs. Vălean specified: "I hope that this new corridor will finally bring to Moldova the long-awaited connectivity with the rest of the country. These transport corridors also involve new standards for transport, a new speed on the railway, the development of new standards for urban nodes, 430 urban nodes at the level of the entire European Union, money for Constanţa: 149 million euros for improving the railway infrastructure, 13 million euro for the electrification of the railway connection from the port. (...) I consider that the entrance gate for the middle corridor, which will unite Asia with the European Union, remains Constanţa. Most of the flow of goods from Moldova and Ukraine passes through Constanţa. This middle corridor we put all on the agenda and on the documents of the international formats. Work is being done through the various international programs of the European Union, in collaboration with partners in Asia, to strengthen this middle corridor. The last time we put it on an international format agreed at the G7 level was last year in Japan. This represents a new opportunity for the future, for Constanţa, to be one of the essential gateways to the European Union, especially for goods from Asia".

The European Transport Commissioner also mentioned that, in the new geostrategic context, he obtained the allocation of over 94 million euros for investments at the border crossing points of Romania with Moldova and Ukraine, such as a new bridge at Ungheni, infrastructure improvement at Vicşani, Siret, Albita, Galati, to facilitate the transit of Ukrainian grains and goods through our country.

Regarding the situation in the last days at Tarom, when the pilots refused to appear on board the planes, Adina Vălean said that that situation is not normal in the context in which the company benefits from state aid approved by the European Commission.

Adina Vălean said: "State aid for the TAROM company means a health certificate, it means a start from scratch for the company. This approval was made on the basis of a restructuring plan, with precise forecasts, which is considered by the European Commission to be a good plan for this company to be profitable. Now, if such situations, approaches, requests to change the company's budget for one or another have a negative impact on the company's future plans, I don't know how to answer you. It's a management issue, but I can tell you it doesn't bode well. In principle, since this plan has just been approved, they should stick to it, respect the budgets. That being said, issues related to working conditions for pilots and other transport workers are issues that are being discussed, debated and need to be resolved generally across the European Union." The European Transport Commissioner believes that Tarom will comply with the restructuring plan approved by the European Commission.