​Top Ford official in Romania hits at infrastructure flops affecting company

Ian Pearson, the manager of Ford Romania, has checked on works at an expressway connecting Southern Romania cities of Craiova and Pitesti, which is of major interest for the Craiova-based Ford subsidiary. He found that no progress has been made at the construction works site, which came to spotlight with an electoral stunt of the governing Social Democrats during the European elections campaign in May.

Ian Pearson noted on Facebook:

• „Having spent almost an hour trying to get through Bals last week I decided to check out the progress on the new Craiova to Pitesti expressway especially the progress of the Bals ring road. The technological road was started on the 22nd with a statement that the ring road will be ready by the end of the year! As can be seen from the photographs which I took yesterday no much progress has been made since the work started. It is not only vital for the people and the businesses in Craiova that this road gets completed on time but for all Romanians who need to use this vital southern road! I will continue to monitor progress and hope that the commitments that were made will be realised.”

The site of the expressway works was launched May 22, in hte presence of Liviu Dragnea, the former leader of the governing Social Democrats (PSD), and Transport minister Razvan Cuc and other top official. Dragnea has since been sentenced to prison under corruption charges.

But just a day after that event, during the last days of the EP elections campaign which the PSD eventually lost, reports came that works were slow. A local reporter published an image with a site apparently abandoned by people. To reverse the impact of the image, officials were quick to published their own images of works being made at the site – though the reporter said the works might have begun again after the moment she took the pictures.

Later that week, local newspaper Gazeta de Sud noted that it was not the expressway that the works started form but for the technological road due to assist works for the proper expressway.