Union Motorway takes shape: Contract signed in Bucharest for Iași–Ungheni section during Vladimir Bolea’s visit

Representatives of Romania’s National Road Investment Company and Moldova’s National Road Administration have signed the contract for Section 4 of the A8 Motorway Târgu Neamț–Iași–Ungheni. This refers to the stretch between Iași and the border crossing with the Republic of Moldova (the bridge over the Prut River at Ungheni), which will include, for the first time, the construction of the first motorway kilometers across the Prut.

The contract covers the construction of the last 15.5 kilometers of the A8 Motorway Târgu Mureș–Iași–Ungheni, as well as the first 5 kilometers of the motorway towards Chișinău. The project is valued at 3.57 billion lei, with financing provided through the SAFE Program.

The contract implementation period is 46 months, including 10 months for the design phase and 36 months for construction works. Within the project, priority has been given to the motorway segment of 2.77 km between the Golăiești interchange and the bridge over the Prut at Ungheni, where works are already advanced. Along the 15.5-kilometer route of Section 4, the following will be built: 14 bridges and overpasses, 2 tunnels (including the tunnel at km 83, with a length of 1,760 meters), and 2 road interchanges (a future interchange providing a link road to the Regional Hospital and Iași Airport, and the Golăiești interchange).

The Republic of Moldova is participating as a partner in implementing the component of the project located on its territory. This includes design services, activities to obtain local permits and authorizations, as well as construction works carried out on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.

“Signing this agreement marks a new step in developing transport infrastructure between Romania and the Republic of Moldova and reconfirms the shared commitment of the two states to improving connectivity, facilitating economic exchanges, and bringing citizens on both banks of the Prut closer together,” said AND Director General Ștefan Popa.

The A8 Motorway comprises four sections with a total length of 89 kilometers and is one of the most important connectivity projects between Romania and the Republic of Moldova.

“The A8 Motorway is a strategic project. When it is completed in 2030, people will be able to drive from Bucharest to Ungheni entirely on motorway, something that would have seemed unlikely just a few years ago,” emphasized the acting Transport Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Radu Miruță.

Today, in Bucharest, the Republic of Moldova and Romania signed a new agreement on extended cooperation in the field of infrastructure. The document provides for the construction of the first kilometers of motorway on the territory of our country and the development of an integrated road network to connect western Moldova to the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). The act was signed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development in Chișinău, Vladimir Bolea, and by Romania’s acting Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Radu-Dinel Miruță.