Acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said Monday that implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) allowed Romania to make 'an important leap' in the field of investments, while noting that there were however delays in completing certain projects and meeting specific milestones.

He said the Government has taken steps to recover those delays, but Romania is still losing hundreds of millions of euros for failing to meet goals related to the wage law and decarbonisation.

'We had delays because what needed to be done from the start was not done. This calendar year, one of the Government's priorities was to do everything within our power to recover these delays, to renegotiate milestones. And where we could not meet them, we managed to correct the number of milestones, to reduce their scope, so that at the end of this exercise Romania can benefit from this grant of 12 - 13 billion euros and from the largest share of the loan. I believe it was an important leap in investments, and many local authorities and ministries managed to complete major projects, whether financed through the NRRP, their own co-financing or the state budget,' Bolojan said at the Mures Prefecture.

The acting PM recalled that the NRRP, now concluded, had two components: 13.5 billion euros in grants and around 7 billion euros in loans.

'We have practically completed this programme. I believe that, as a result, important investments will remain in Romania. In a few minutes, the Moldova Motorway opens on a nearly 50-kilometre section toward Bacau. By the end of the year, the other section will also open. Next spring we will be able to drive on the motorway all the way to Pascani. This is a project directly linked to the NRRP. There are also major infrastructure projects, meaning modernised and electrified railways, and Romania's hospital network,' Bolojan said.

He added that the NRRP also financed projects aimed at improving the quality of education. According to him, in almost all county capitals, most schools have been modernised, equipped and rehabilitated, benefiting from modern infrastructure. Many energy-efficiency projects carried out by local authorities were also funded through the NRRP.

On the other hand, the acting PM warned that Romania lost 770 million euros 'at the last minute', representing the value of the NRRP milestone related to the public pay law.

'Although we did everything possible during this period to find a consensus formula through which these major reforms could be adopted, the public pay law could not be passed, and the government I represent bears no responsibility for this. We did everything possible to pass it. Unfortunately, it was not desired,' Bolojan said.

Romania is also losing up to 100 million euros linked to the decarbonisation milestone, he added.

'Although we had significant European funds to replace coal-fired plants that Romania committed to close due to pollution and energy inefficiency, because we did not complete the Craiova plant and because we could not leave a city without heating during winter, and because in the Jiu Valley we did not replace any energy group with gas-powered units or other photovoltaic or storage solutions, we extended the two units at Turceni and Craiova until 2028 at the latest, so that we maintain heating in Craiova during winter and also keep the balance in the national heating system until other energy capacities - gas, storage or photovoltaic - are completed,' Bolojan said.

Acting PM Ilie Bolojan attended Monday's inauguration of the new Cardiovascular surgical Centre in Targu Mures. He welcomed the completion of the project, saying it had been 'delayed in its first phase', and noted that it is one of eight major health projects carried out through the NRRP. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Irinela Visan; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)