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Romania and the Republic of Moldova will collaborate more closely in the infrastructure area, in the traffic area, taking into account the desire to continue the Union Highway (A8) to Chisinau (the Republic of Moldova) and Odessa (Ukraine), Transport and Infrastructure Minister Sorin Grindeanu wrote on Thursday on his Facebook page.
"I have discussed today with my counterpart in the Republic of Moldova, Andrei Spinu, about how we can develop the partnership on all transport sectors! Firstly, I proposed to convene, in February, the Joint Bilateral Committee for coordinating all activities regarding the design and construction of the Bridge over the Pruth River in Ungheni. We have convened upon the necessity to also identify other cross-border projects eligible for European funds (CEF). These could be submitted in the next implementation call, which shall be launched in September this year. Currently, three proposals are already identified: the construction of the Bridge in Ungheni (project approved in December 2022); the construction of the infrastructure providing access to this bridge which includes a border crossing point (on the Republic of Moldova's territory) and the modernization of DJ 249 [County Road] in order to ensure the download and connection with the existing infrastructure (on the territory of Romania); ensuring Albita (Romania) - Leuseni (Republic of Moldova) road connection - for which the application will be submitted between September 2023 and January 2024. In the traffic area, we would like the Union Highway(A8) to be continued to Chisinau (Republic Moldova) and Odessa (Ukraine)," the minister pointed out.
According to him, also tackled was the topic of modernizing and constructing several cross-border road bridges over the Pruth River: Bridge in Sacuieni (Sacuieni), Oancea Bridge (Cahul); Albita Bridge (Leuseni) - new bridge; Raducaneni Bridge (Barboieni) - new bridge; Bumbata Bridge (Leova - new bridge; Falcui Bridge (Leca/Cantemir) - new bridge.
In terms of railway infrastructure, the two sides discussed about the extension of the broad-gauge railway line to Nicolina Station. Thus, trains could run on the wide gauge railway on the Ungheni - Cristesi Jijia - Socola - Nicolina route.
Moreover, a point of common interest is also the rehabilitation of the railway corridor Iasi (Airport of Iasi) - Ungheni - Chisinau (Airport of Chisinau) - Odessa, through funding granted by the World Bank.
