Romania to spend EUR 500 mln on rebuilding secondary irrigation system

Newsroom 12/09/2014 | 09:26

Rebuilding the secondary irrigation infrastructure in Romania should be completed by 2016, with financing of EUR 500 million, according to Daniel Constantin, minister of Agriculture, quoted by Agerpres.

“Contracts worth EUR 130 million have already been signed to rehabilitate the secondary irrigation system. Moreover, through the National Rural Development Program we’ve allocated EUR 370 million to rebuild the entire system. The rehabilitation program was started in 2012 and will be completed by 2016”, according to Constantin.

The official went on to say that over 100 organisations have already signed the contracts to participate in the rehabilitation.

Every organisation that irrigates will receive EUR 1 million, non-reimbursable.

Romania is currently seeking approval from the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, to finance the main irrigation investments from cohesion funds. Daniel Constantin said in May this year that developing the irrigation system is crucial for agriculture in Romania, a sector that contributed 5.6 percent to Romania’s GDP in 2013.