The contract for the design and construction of the new bridge over the Prut was signed on Friday in Ungheni. It will have four lanes of traffic and will be part of the A8 Union Highway, Iasi - Târgu Mureș, which is part of the Trans-European Transport Network, IPN reports.

“We today witnessed a moment that Ungheni and also the entire Republic of Moldova has been waiting for since the Flower Bridge of the 1990s. If our parents’ generation, 34 years ago, built a bridge of flowers, we will be the generation that builds bridges to ease our connection between the two banks of the Prut,” Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu said in the signing event.

According to the official, the signing of the contract is a step that proves that the Republic of Moldova is part of the big European family and that Moldova’s place is in the European Union. “With Romania’s support and as part of this family, we will ensure that the Republic of Moldova is never isolated again and that our citizens have the same standard of living, income and freedom of movement as all the citizens of the European Union,” stated Speaker Grosu.

The document signed in Ungheni provides that, by 2026, the designated Romanian company will carry out the given large-scale project. The bridge is to facilitate access to the European Union’s motorway network and to the highway section that will connect Ungheni to Chisinau.