All projects in the PNRR must be completed by August 2026, but many energy investments are delayed, the Minister of Investments and European Funds, Adrian Câciu, said at a specialized conference.
At the same time, he referred to the speculative investors (“business hunters”) who submit the project, but will not implement it, looking for a buyer who will invest in a park.
“There are currently open calls, I don’t know if necessarily at the Ministry of Energy or in local areas, business hunters who come, submit the project, but they will not implement it, then look for a producer who will invest in a park. It seems to me that this issue is a distortion also for the investment intention that we have. These issues must be considered and eliminated if we want to shorten the steps we have to take until the investments are implemented,” the minister said, quoted by Agerpres.
In his opinion, Romania is in an area of opportunity, having more than 20 billion euro at its disposal.
“I think we are in an area of historic opportunity. I will give you a figure that will amaze you. At this moment, as we discuss, we have more than 20 billion euros available. We have an allocation of almost 5 billion euros from the PNRR , we have the Cohesion Policy Funds 2021-2027, another 3 billion euros, we have the Modernization Fund, 16 billion euros. The money from the perspective of funding sources is there. Moreover, from 2026 an allocation of 5 billion will come of euros on the Social Fund for the Climate, which starts to be implemented from 2026 to 2030 by Romania, and the allocation for Romania is 5 billion euros – 6 billion euros, depending on the priorities we define in that programming,” the minister mentioned.
He emphasized that we all have to put our minds together so that “the projects that are already underway happen as quickly as possible.”
“Time does not wait for us. Romania has entered another development paradigm. It is no longer in the paradigm of lack of projects, lack of money. From the perspective of funding sources, especially free funding sources, it is in a competition with its administrative capacity, on the state side, but also on the private side, to implement the projects. By August 2026, all the projects in the PNRR must be completed. There are many delayed energy investments. The sums are exorbitant if we discuss the value we have at our disposal, but they are only sums on paper that Romania benefits from or could benefit from if they are not transformed into projects that have reached their objective. All the actors in this commitment must sit at the table and find more pragmatic solutions, because we have really nice investments, beneficial for Romania, if they were realized, but delayed. And we must be very honest about this matter. If we are not honest, we will fool ourselves and in 2026 we will find that we have not achieved what we proposed. We will still lose amounts made available for free. We don’t have time to sit and say that everything is perfect,” Adrian Câciu added.