Romanian Interior Minister Dan Nica has known for two months that his dismissal was being discussed. Elsewhere in the news, the Romanian press informs on the issues of building the country’s infrastructure – foreign companies encouraged to build motorways through obscure or discriminating schemes.

Romanian Interior Minister Dan Nica has known for two months that his dismissal was being discussed, according to Romanian news agency Agerpres, Adevarul reads. He said he knew from the mass-media, because politicians use the press for declarations. According to Nica, what annoyed the coalition leaders were the reasons Romania's PM Emil Boc presented for his dismissal.

"To impose on a PSD role the campaign president [n.b. Vasile Blaga] of Traian Basescu indicates that the real score is the Interior Minister, and the explanations given did not contain one shred of truth", Nica explained.

Nica said that Romania's PM was called to explain his allegations about the elections' fraud through electoral tourism. He said the meeting at the Victoria Palace did not last longer than five minutes and he was not asked for any documentation. Dan Nica declared on Friday that for the coming elections, his minister will take extra measures for the polls to run a more correct course than the European elections had.

American company Bechtel announced that it finished 30 of the 42 kilometres from the Transilvania motorway, a section which they are bound to complete by the end of the year, Gandul informs. The 30 kilometres of highway between Campia Turzii - Gilau (Central Romania) have been constructed within five years.

The delay was caused not only by financing issues, but also by a chemical waste depot several kilometres away from Turda. The society to win the auction, namely Euroconstruct Trading 98, patroned by Dan Besciu and Sorin Vulpescu, cashed in 16.2 million euros from the Romanian National Motorways and National Roads Company for decontaminating the depot.

Bechtel is currently working on another Transilvania motorway section. The works began in 2005, when the Nastase cabinet, on its way to leave governance, awarded the American company the project without any auction, "estimating" its value at 2.3 billion euros for 415 kilometres. The company increased the costs later, asking for 2.5 billion euros only for the 189 kilometres between Campia Turzii and Bors. The way the contract was formulated did not allow its resilience, despite two Transport ministers trying to cancel it.

In 2005, the construction was stopped for further investigations. But the results only managed to postpone the deadline, initially set for 2012, by one year. The Government is scraping for money and have announced the incapacity to fund the entire project. PM Emil Boc declared that the 42 kilometres section has been allocated funds and will be finalised by the end of this year.

Cotidianul also reads on a motorway construction issue: the Deva-Orastie project was put out for auction for the third time this year. The offers are to be submitted in October. But the auction's documentation was changed on the go and the Romanian authority has been accused by two companies on the suspicion that it encourages foreign companies. The 32 kilometres motorway project was first auctioned and cancelled in 2006, being delayed by the Dutch DHV Consultants/Athens Development Office Company.

The project was put out for auction the second time this year in July, but the Romanian National Motorways and National Roads Company cancelled it four days before the submission deadline. The new requirement sees that companies should have constructed at least 100.000 cube meters of concrete structures used for bridges in the last two years. This is a huge impediment for any Romanian company wanting to take part in the auction.

According to Romanian business owners, the required quantity has not been constructed in Romania within the last 40 years! Considered to be discriminatory, Romanian companies have submitted so far two contestations. Romania's Transport minister Radu Berceanu has recently stated that foreign companies use their experience and fame to gain contracts in Romania, then show up on sites with two people and a laptop, subcontracting the projects further to Romanian companies.