Itinera, Saipem and Maltauro win a 700 million contract in Romania
The joint venture formed by the three Italian companies has been awarded the contract to build a major section of a motorway
The ‘Made in Italy’ presence in major infrastructure projects is growing abroad. The joint venture formed by Itinera (a company of the ASTM Group) as lead partner (40%), Saipem (35 per cent) and Icm-Impresa di costruzioni Maltauro (25 per cent) has been awarded the contract for the design and construction of Lot 4 of the A8 “Unirii” motorway in Romania, awarded by Compania Națională de Investiții Rutiere (CNIR), the Romanian national company for investment in the road infrastructure sector. The total value of the contract is approximately 700 million euros.
Specifically, the motorway section will stretch for approximately 21 kilometres – 5 kilometres of which will be in Moldovan territory – and will link the city of Iași, in north-eastern Romania, with the Republic of Moldova. The route will include around 14 structures, including bridges, viaducts and underpasses, three motorway junctions, an artificial tunnel approximately 500 metres long and a natural twin-tube tunnel approximately 1.7 kilometres long.
The project forms part of the wider scheme to build the A8 motorway, which will link the city of Targu Neamt with Iasi and Ungheni in Romania, spanning a distance of over 300 kilometres. This strategic infrastructure forms part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) that will link Central Europe with Eastern Europe. Funding is provided through the European SAFE (Security Action for Europe) programme.
According to a joint statement issued by the three companies, this contract award recognises the expertise of three leading Italian firms – Itinera, Saipem and Icm – in the construction of sustainable infrastructure. The project also strengthens the presence of Itinera, Saipem and Icm in Romania.
In Romania, Itinera has completed, amongst other projects, the Bucharest ring road. Also in Romania, Saipem is already working on the Neptun Deep Gas Development offshore project in the Black Sea. Finally, Icm has had a presence in the country for some time, with its own representative office and operational structure.
