PM Orban: Naval shipyards - a very important component of Romanian economy

Naval shipyards are an "extremely" important component of the Romanian economy with enough competitiveness existing in this economic field that allows the further development of the areas where they are located and of the country, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said on Wednesday in Braila.

"The Romanian shipbuilding industry, the naval shipyards are an extremely important component of the Romanian economy. Of all the naval shipyards that existed before 1989, only one shipyard ended its activity - the Oltenita Shipyard - while all the other, whether we're talking about the ones in Tulcea, Braila, Galati, Magalia, Turnu Severin and Orsova continue their activity, being an extremely important component of the Romanian economy," said Orban, who paid a visit to the Braila Shipyard.

He said the Government is watching "very carefully" what happens in the shipbuilding and repairing industry.

"It is a very important component of the Romanian economy, there are many jobs here and there is enough gathered experience which makes all economic actors, whether they are local economic actors or foreign investors, such as Fincantieri or Damen, to be able to basically ensure competitiveness for this economic area and enable further economic development of the areas where these shipyards are located and of Romania," he added.

The head of the Executive also said the Braila Shipyard is now producing modules for the bridge to be built over the Danube in this locality after it took the example of a shipyard in Italy that made the modules for the bridge built over Genoa.

"The Braila Shipyard basically started to produce the modules for the bridge, 86 of them (...) measuring 25.30 m. (...) They don't need to float, (...) they are probably the first constructions that don't need to float, but they are very important in the achievement of this extremely important investment objective in this area. (...) In respect to the production pace and the terms for the delivery of these modules, the shipyard is very well organised and it has the capacity to deliver on time the extremely important components for the bridge," said the PM.

The PM is paying a visit on Wednesday to the Braila and Galati counties accompanied by the Minister of Economy Virgil Popescu and Minister of Transport Lucian Bode.