Strabag rivals back out of Romanian assignment
A controversial motorway tender deal in Romania that was bitterly contested by Austrian firm Strabag has collapsed after the winning French-Greek consortium pulled out of the deal.Romanian Times reports today (Thurs) that a consortium of French construction group Vinci and Greek builder Aktor withdrew from the 4.8-billion-Euro deal.The deal involved building of a 58-kilometre motorway stretch connecting the central Romanian cities of Brasov and Comarnic.Although motives have not been disclosed, a lack of funding is considered to be the cause.The French-Greek group won a public tender against Vienna-based firm Strabag that had also placed its bid last year. Strabags appeal against the Romanian states decision to assign the project to their rivals was rejected at that time.Strabag Austrias biggest construction firm was earlier this month assigned to build a bypass tunnel in the Swiss region of Graubünden for around 60 million Euros. Construction near the town of Küblis is set to start this June, while work is expected to be completed by November 2015.