EU Funds Min Plumb: Romania's absorption rate of EU funds - 20.3pct; EU average - 22pct

Romania's absorption rate of European funds is about 20.3pct, as compared to the EU average of 22pct, EU Funds Minister Rovana Plumb said on Tuesday at Victoria Palace.

"At present, through the Cohesion Policy, 6.4 billion euro entered Romania and, in total, together with direct funding, the direct payments to farmers, 11 billion euro. We have launched funding lines of 25.3 billion euro and projects worth 33 billion euro have been submitted. The 25.3 billion euro represents 90pct of the total allocation from the cohesion funds managed by the Ministry of European Funds and the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration. The contracting rate has risen since 2017 from 5pct to 53.3pct, so 10 times," Plumb explained.

She added that "the absorption rate of European funds in Romania is 20.3pct, compared to the European average of 22pct".

"We have sent 14 major projects to the European Commission, of which 13 are already signed, approved and one is currently under evaluation in the European Commission. Of the 14 major projects submitted to the European Commission on transport infrastructure, a major project of 2 billion euro stands out, namely the Gurasada-Simeria railway infrastructure, and the other major project, which is the largest in the European Union, relates to the water and waste water infrastructure, has a value of 499 million euro and is managed by the water company in Constanta, RAJA," said Rovana Plumb.

Regarding the statement that no major project has been sent to the European Commission so far in the transport sector, she said that "Romania has sent to the European Commission 14 major projects amounting to 3.78 billion euro, that is 75pct of the total allocation".

According to the minister, among the applications submitted, "all were approved, except for the 6th Metro Line".

"By the end of the year, we will send major infrastructure projects worth 2.5 billion euro," Plumb said.

She added that all the figures presented were "the effort made by the PSD-ALDE [Social Democratic Party, major at rule, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, minor at rule, ed.n.] government." "In other words, what has not been done since the start of the current programming period, we have managed since taking over power. I also remind you that PSD, when in power, since May 2012, made up for the delays in the previous programming period, which was nine years, during which time the European money could be spent," Rovana Plumb mentioned.

The minister reminded that in May 2012, the sixth year of programming, the absorption rate was 7pct, and in three years Romania reached 90pct.

"In the current programming period, we are in the fifth year since the beginning of this period and we have a 20pct absorption rate of European funds and we still have five years to spend the cohesion policy allocation for Romania," Minister Plumb said. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Florea, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - author: Bogdan Gabaroi; editor: Simona Iacob)