There may be a connection between roads and defense (efficient troop movement) so maybe some of the military aid will go to improving the not-quite-highways. My Moldovan friends used to make that "pocketing" gesture when the saw news about foreign aid for roads, but it's a new administration & a new day.
My other comment - the difference between an inter-city bus terminal (a few urban streets with buses parked along them and drivers/touts standing outside announcing destinations) and the airport with its mysterious VIP lounge taking up half the terminal is a good object lesson in oligarchy, if Shor truly owns them all. (As an alternative, here in the U.S. we have public port authorities; don't know the history of that kind of infrastructure.)
Hi Grace, very good point about defense and roads. My understanding is that this highway was a bit of a long term plan (maybe dream) that has been rattling around for a while. Romania is just a warren of small roads and towns now but is slowly connecting its new highway across the country to Iasi. When this happens Moldova will have a major incentive to connect to this through to Odessa economically. This road would also likely imply the completion of a loop road for Chisinau which would be amazing.
That said, I think you are onto something about defense. The real question is whether or not this will be quickly funded. Up until now there really would not have been a huge incentive for banks or donors to back this highway project. Now there probably is.
One important thing to realize is how the Soviets viewed road infrastructure. The oldest "highway" (in a route 66 sense) in Moldova is the M14 / Betonka. This road goes from Odessa, through Moldova (via Transnistria) all the way up to the Baltic states. It's called "Betonka" because it is made of concrete and was designed to carry tanks. The idea was that in the case of invasion by NATO the Soviets could move armies and equipment quickly N/S to wherever the threat was. The Soviets never built east west highways in order to slow potential invaders down.
You can see the western military logic / needs intersecting with Moldovan economic needs pretty clearly in this project. It'll be interesting to see how quickly / if Moldova can find the funding.
There may be a connection between roads and defense (efficient troop movement) so maybe some of the military aid will go to improving the not-quite-highways. My Moldovan friends used to make that "pocketing" gesture when the saw news about foreign aid for roads, but it's a new administration & a new day.
My other comment - the difference between an inter-city bus terminal (a few urban streets with buses parked along them and drivers/touts standing outside announcing destinations) and the airport with its mysterious VIP lounge taking up half the terminal is a good object lesson in oligarchy, if Shor truly owns them all. (As an alternative, here in the U.S. we have public port authorities; don't know the history of that kind of infrastructure.)
Hi Grace, very good point about defense and roads. My understanding is that this highway was a bit of a long term plan (maybe dream) that has been rattling around for a while. Romania is just a warren of small roads and towns now but is slowly connecting its new highway across the country to Iasi. When this happens Moldova will have a major incentive to connect to this through to Odessa economically. This road would also likely imply the completion of a loop road for Chisinau which would be amazing.
That said, I think you are onto something about defense. The real question is whether or not this will be quickly funded. Up until now there really would not have been a huge incentive for banks or donors to back this highway project. Now there probably is.
One important thing to realize is how the Soviets viewed road infrastructure. The oldest "highway" (in a route 66 sense) in Moldova is the M14 / Betonka. This road goes from Odessa, through Moldova (via Transnistria) all the way up to the Baltic states. It's called "Betonka" because it is made of concrete and was designed to carry tanks. The idea was that in the case of invasion by NATO the Soviets could move armies and equipment quickly N/S to wherever the threat was. The Soviets never built east west highways in order to slow potential invaders down.
You can see the western military logic / needs intersecting with Moldovan economic needs pretty clearly in this project. It'll be interesting to see how quickly / if Moldova can find the funding.