The hippodrome in Ploiesti, rehabilitated and modernized with more than EUR 13 million, cannot be used for competitions, for an incredible reason: the two runways, for trot and gallop, cannot be homologated because in Romania there is no institution to deal with this issue.
Ploiesti Mayor Adrian Dobre has announced that the hippodrome, the only one in the country for horse racing, will remain closed throughout the autumn, ZVP.ro informs.
The mayor explained that the problem of homologation was discovered only after the hippodrome has been taken over by the municipality.
The mayor also said now he has learned that in the investment project … it was not included the obligation for the homologation of tracks. Now the only solution is to go to a nearby European forum which would deal with the issue.
Until then, the Ploiesti Hippodrome could only hold demonstrations but not national and international competitions, which would have brought revenues to the local budget.
Even worse, because the project has not been finalized, it will bring extra costs for Ploiesti taxpayers.
Commenced two years ago, the upgrading of the hippodrome was made with money from the local budget (50%) and 50% from European funds, but ultimately 80% of the costs will be incurred by the City Hall budget due to delays, Digi24 informs.