The construction of the transport corridor between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea will have a positive impact on the economies of the countries that will participate in the project, on the regional development and creation of new workplaces, said Hungarian MP Bela Szep, who chaired the meeting held to launch the international conference “Development of Transport Connections in the Black Sea and Baltic Sea Zone”. The two-day conference was organized by the Ministry of Construction and Territorial Development and the KIUT Regional Development Association, a Hungarian nongovernmental organization, Info-Prim Neo reports. The implementation of the project is determined by the considerable increase in passenger and goods transportation within the Eastern border of the EU, which requires the building of interconnected routes: from Scandinavia – Baltic Countries to Poland - Slovakia - Hungary - Romania - Moldova and Ukraine. The interconnection by direct road of some parts of the mentioned countries with the ports of the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea supports the development of the logistic centers situated in the zones where the west-east and north-south transport routes interconnect each other, along the border of the Schengen area. This corridor, which is planned to be 2,600- 3,000 km long, will be build during several years and its construction will necessitate a lot of human and financial resources. But, as the Deputy Minister of Construction and Territorial Development Vasile Ursu said, the money will be recouped, while the transport corridor will ensure the free movement of the goods, capital, services and persons between the northeastern and southeastern countries of the EU and with its neighbors. Ursu said that this is a project of the 21 century, based on multimodal (road and sea) transport. According to him, the aim of the conference (KIUT held similar conferences in a number of states) is to harmonize the conceptions of the possible route and analyze the impact on the economies and the implementation costs. “Moldova is to restore two road sections – from Romania’s border to Sculeni – Ungheni – Chisinau and then to Gura-Bacului in Tiraspol, about 220-250 kilometers overall. We think that about 1 billion lei will be needed for the purpose. But this figure is approximate. We must carry out the feasibility study. It seems that a part of the road to Tiraspol does not work and it is said that two more lanes should be added to these road sections. But, we’ll see. It is yet clear that if we participate in this project, the economic effect will be great,” Ursu said. Ivan Ciurbadji, deputy governor of Odessa region, said that the regional authorities should identify resources to build 60 kilometers of road, stressing that the participation in this project is very beneficial both to Moldova and Ukraine given that the two countries aim to increase exports. Speaking about the possibilities of financing the repair of the Moldovan road sections that would be included in this project, the Ambassador of Hungary in Chisinau Gyorgy Varga said that Moldova could obtain the necessary money or a part of it from the EU funding for the Eastern Partnership.