Gov’t publishes the National Recovery and Resilience Plan

PM Florin Cîțu, deputy PMs Dan Barna and Kelemen Hunor and the Minister of European Investments and Projects Cristian Ghinea have presented the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) on Wednesday, which was officially sent to the European Commission in Brussels two days ago. The final version sent to the EC was published on the website of the European Investments and Projects Ministry.

Romania will receive EUR 29.2 billion through PNRR, out of which EUR 14.2 bln in grants and EUR 15 bln as loans. The money must be accessed by December 31, 2023 at the latest, and the projects financed through this program must be concluded by December 31, 2026. If the deadlines are not met the money must be refunded. The first funds through PNRR might reach Romania in October this year.

PM Florin Cîțu stated that Romania had decided to access also the loans part in the PNRR to cover the need for investments. The premier mentioned that the loans are contracted at a low interest rate.

“There are 29,2 billion euros to be used to build around 450km highways, to rehabilitate tens of hospitals and build hundreds of schools and nurseries. We’ll have a newly built hospital by 2024. It is a premiere. It is very important for this ruling to build hospitals. There are three major sectors to get money: Transports, Education and Healthcare”, said PM Citu, explaining that the loans were taken as Romania needs investments.

“These loans will go only to investments, not to the consumption. I doubt there is any debate that loans for investments are no good. The loans taken through PNRR are at a lowest interest rate, almost 0%. It is the same interest rate negotiated by Germany, Spain. It is an advantage for Romania that we can lend money at these interest rates, ” the prime minister pointed out.

Citu detailed the must-do things to be solved by Romania in the wake of these funds: “a reform of the pension system- we want a sustainable system based on contributions, the justice reform-we’re repairing what others have ruined for years, the reform of the state companies – the waste of the public money will come to an end, the reform of the salary scheme- we want a system where we’ll link the revenues directly to the performance”.

“We would have done these reforms anyway, even if this PNRR had not existed. We make sure through PNRR that the money entering Romania will actually reach all corners of the country. All Romanians will benefit of those EUR 29.2 billion“, PM Citu said.