Romania: TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS



TRANSPORTATION System: Public investment in the transportation infrastructure under the Ceauşescu regime was insufficient. As a result, Romania has one of the least extensive road networks in Europe. The network’s state of disrepair continues to hamper economic development. Plans have been established to improve and link the transportation infrastructure with trans-European transport networks, at an estimated cost of roughly US$3.2 billion. This modernization plan is a government priority, as well as a key component of European Union accession negotiations and will require a significant fiscal commitment on the part of the government.



Roads: Romania has 78,000 kilometers of public roads, significant portions of which are generally in need of repair. Some 46 percent of public roads are located in rural areas. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development contributed more than US$50 million to fund the creation of a new highway from Bucharest to Constanta, and to introduce tolls along existing and new highway developments in an effort to ease the financial burden associated with repairing and extending the road system.



Railroads: Rail is the major form of internal transportation in Romania, with a network of 14,217 kilometers of standard-gauge rail line, the fourth largest in Europe. However, only 35 percent of this network is electrified, and major equipment is in need of updating. Daily passengers on the rail network average about 500,000; some 70 million tons of freight are carried by rail annually.



Ports: Romania has ports on the Black Sea and along the Danube River; most are in need of repair and modernization. Constanta, the largest of the Black Sea ports and Romania’s principal port, covers nearly 4,000 hectares and has an annual handling capacity of 115 million tons. A satellite port, Midia, is located north of Constanta and handles 200,000 tons of cargo annually. The main port along the Danube River is Galati, which handles approximately 6.7 million tons of cargo annually. Other important ports along the Danube include Tulcea, Giurgiu, Orsova, Medgidia, Zimnicea, Turnu Magurele, Oltenitza, and Sulina (in descending order, according to annual cargo rates).



Inland Waterways: The Danube is by far Romania's most important river for transportation. The Danube is an important route for domestic shipping as well as international trade. It is navigable for river vessels along its entire Romanian course and for seagoing ships as far as the port of Braila. An obvious problem with the use of the Danube for inland transportation is its remoteness from most of the major industrial centers. Moreover, marshy banks and perennial flooding impede navigation in some areas.



Civil Aviation and Airports: Romania has 165 airports; however, only 19 have permanently surfaced runways. Of these, three are international and 16 are domestic airports; four new domestic airports are slated for construction. Bucharest International Airport at Otopeni is the largest in the country, carrying some 3 million passengers and 25,000 tons of cargo per year. Cluj-Napoca and Timişoara also are served by international flights. The national airline, Tarom Romanian Airlines, has regularly operated at a loss. Restructuring of Tarom has begun, but efforts to partially privatize the airline have consistently been delayed. Tarom’s fleet once had more than 70 Soviet aircraft but now numbers 16: five Boeing 737-300s, four Boeing 737-700s, and seven ATR 42-500s.



Pipelines: Two state-owned companies control Romania’s network of approximately 4,500 kilometers of petroleum pipelines. The first, Petrotrans, carries crude oil from the Black Sea port of Constanta to refineries inland; and the second, owned by Conpet, carries crude oil from oil fields in the south and east to refineries in Cimpina, Darmanesti, Onesti, and Ploiesti. In addition, Romania has approximately 12,000 kilometers of natural gas pipelines, which bring gas into Romania from Bulgaria, Greece, and Russia (via Ukraine).

Telecommunications: Despite deregulation, expansion, and modernization over the past 10 years, Romania’s telecommunications sector remains underdeveloped by regional standards. Nevertheless, the information technology (IT) market in Romania is one of the fastest growing in Eastern Europe. The market for mobile phone services in Romania is one of the most advanced in the Balkans, with mobile phone service more widely used than fixed-line. There are four mobile service providers, using either General System for Mobile Communications Technology (GSM) or code division multiple access (CDMA, a digital network launched in 2001). Estimates vary, but Romania had between 5.1 and 6.9 million mobile service subscribers versus 4.2 to 4.4 million fixed lines as of the end of 2003. Internet penetration is weak by European standards but growing rapidly at about 5 to 6 percent per month. By 2004 it was estimated that Romania had 4 million Internet users and 50,807 Internet hosts.