Romanian minister: Most SAFE transport funds go to domestic firms, not Ukraine

Most of the funding allocated through the European SAFE program for road infrastructure is flowing to Romanian companies, according to interim Transport Minister Radu Mironuta. He announced that seven out of nine highway contracts financed by the European mechanism have been secured by Romanian firms, with the remaining two awarded to companies from Spain and Italy.

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I heard the situation that the money from SAFE is not only going to defense for some country, but also for transport, all the money from SAFE is going to Ukrainian companies. This is a lie and it is disinformation, I don't necessarily know for what purpose, but I can suspect.

Mironuta specifically addressed and refuted information suggesting that funds from these projects were being channeled to Ukrainian companies. He clarified that Ukrainian firms are involved only in subcontracting for certain segments of the projects. The minister explained that as of the end of May, three contracts were still held up by appeals at the National Council for Settlement of Complaints (CNSC). However, this situation has since changed with two of these appeals being resolved.

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I checked which are the companies that won the construction of the nine highway lots and seven out of nine companies are Romanian. The other two, one is Spanish and one is Italian.

Discussions are also ongoing to finalize international agreements necessary for routes connecting to Ukraine and Moldova. Mironuta detailed that six SAFE contracts have been signed, with three more in the final stages. He noted that two of the three remaining contracts, which were initially under appeal, have been resolved, and authorities are now in discussions to conclude agreements with Ukraine and Moldova for the segments bordering these countries. One contract remains under legal clarification.

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On three of the segments won by a Romanian company from Bistrita, I understood, that company made a subcontracting agreement for those three works and for the part...