At the “Vasile Alecsandri” Theoretical High School in Ungheni, workers are digging the foundations for something the school has never had in its 35 years of existence: a gym of its own. On Tuesday, 8 July, Ungheni District Council posted images from the site and announced the pace of the works — “this year the wall section and the related infrastructure will be built, and next year work will move to the interior of the gym and the upstairs classrooms”.
Behind the photo of rebar and formwork lies a concrete figure the post does not give, but which the state public procurement registry shows in black and white: the contract for stage I of the gym — the building’s structure — was awarded on 28 April 2026 to COLASS SA, for 13,717,645.78 lei, following an open tender. The authority that ran the procurement is neither the ministry nor city hall, but the high school itself, as a public institution.
A figure that will grow
The 13.7 million lei covers only the first stage — the walls and the related infrastructure, built in 2026. The second stage, next year’s (the hall’s interior and the upstairs classrooms), does not yet appear as an awarded contract in the registry, a sign that it has not been budgeted. Consequently, the project’s total cost will exceed 13.7 million — by how much cannot be said for now.
A second contract at the same school also dates from 2026: 792,592 lei for the major overhaul of the physics and chemistry labs. This year’s investment in “Vasile Alecsandri” therefore goes beyond the gym.
Where the money comes from
The funding comes from the state budget, through the Ministry of Education and Research, with co-financing from Ungheni City Hall and the District Council — a structure the District Council’s announcement also confirms. How much each party contributes has not been made public.
One clarification, because the figures can easily be mixed up. When Minister Dan Perciun visited the school in March, the ministry spoke of “roughly 10 million lei allocated for developing the institution’s infrastructure” — broad wording, about the high school as a whole, not about the gym, whose works contract (stage I only) is in fact larger. And one more: “Vasile Alecsandri” is not part of the “Școli Model” programme, from which in Ungheni the “Ion Creangă” and “Mihai Eminescu” high schools benefit — its gym is being built with state and local money, on a separate track.
What it means for the school
“Vasile Alecsandri” is the district’s first high school, founded in 1991, and gathers around 620 students. Until now, physical-education classes have been held without an indoor hall — the school’s infrastructure page lists only an outdoor basketball court. For these students, a gym means classes that no longer depend on the weather and a space for competitions the institution has never had.
The road was long: the decision to launch the project was taken by Ungheni Municipal Council back in March 2023, on the plot next to the school’s block B. It took about three years to go from paper to foundations. If the second stage secures funding in time, students could enter the new hall in 2027.
The contract’s value and details come from the State public procurement registry (tender.gov.md); the pace of the works and the funding structure — from Ungheni District Council’s announcement; the launch of the project — from Ungheni Municipal Council’s decision no. 2/31 of 2023; the ministry’s budget allocation — from the ministry’s statement. The value of the second stage, the project’s total cost, and exactly how much Ungheni City Hall and the District Council co-finance have not been made public.