THE EVOLUTION OF ROAD TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE IN ROMANIA AFTER 1990. ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS

The scope of this paper is to present the evolution of Romanian roads infrastructure, its economic impact based on data extracted from the European Statistical Database (EUROSTAT) and the opportunities for strategic investments with potential highly positive impacts on the nation’s economy. The data used for this research spans over a period of 29 years, from 1990 right after the fall of the communist regime, to 2019 when Romania is already a Member of the European Union. The Romanian roads infrastructure is analysed according to its classification and compared with infrastructure from other European countries. The development of the Romanian transportation infrastructure in the selected timeframe was done in a complicated political environment with constant threat from corruption in all Public Authorities. The paper also aimed to establish the influence of road infrastructure over the economic development and international trade of goods and services of Romania. The econometric analysis was performed using Ordinary Least Squares method and studied the correlation between road length, as independent variable and GDP per capita, export and import of goods and services of Romania, as dependent variables. Based on empirical analysis, we found that Romanian road infrastructure is a significant determining factor for the development of the country’s economy, as well as for international trade, thus, its importance is undeniable and efforts should be made in order for it to flourish. Policy implications are also included, as well as suggestions for strategic investments in a national motorway network that would connect the Black Sea to the European Markets. Effects of such investments would ripple through the entire Romanian economy.