The heads of delegations taking part in the NATO Summit will be using 69 Mercedes limousines, while another 396 Ford automobiles will be made available to the other delegation members, declared to Mediafax Secretary of Sate in the Foreign Ministry Victor Micula.
According to the mentioned-source, of the 396 Ford vehicles used for the transport of ministers and other officials, 69 are "eight plus one" Ford Transit minibuses.
The vehicles were made available to the organizers by the two companies, which will thus sponsor the Summit organization.
The sponsorship consisted in making available the vehicles to the Summit Organizers for a two-week period, assurance-payment, auto-registration and driver-training. The drivers are Romanian and come from Protection and Guard Service (SPP), Ministry of Defense (MAp), Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform (MIRA), Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), The Special Telecommunication Service (STS), The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
The Organizers prepared for the Official delegations 17 transport routes between the following locations: airport-hotel, hotel-Palace of Parliament, Palace of Parliament-Cultural Events Locations, and one between the Palace of Parliament and the National Military Circle where the Transatlantic Forum is scheduled. Ten additional routes were set up for journalists. A total of 440 buses, minibuses and luggage-vans will be used during the Summit period.
Alongside Ford and Mercedes, the Summit Sponsor Committee also includes Microsoft (which will contribute software as well as assistance for Summit news downloads to cell phones), Hilton (which offers a daily 5 per cent discount rate for the guests of the Romanian party), Borsec, Halewood International, Elbit System and the National History Museum (which will host, as of March 17, a NATO Exhibition). Their contributions in both cash and kind have so far been put at RON 4.464 million.
According to Victor Micula, other sponsors are expected to join the Committee, and the organizers hope in a final sponsorship amount of 2 million Euros.
Asked about the number of streets closed down in Bucharest in the Summit period, Victor Micula answered that lane-tracks for the official corridor will be set up, leaving the traffic free in the rest. The only restriction will be around the Palace of Parliament.
(Source: Mediafax)
