Romania’s absorption of EU funds set to reach 19 percent on increased reimbursement requests

The Ministry of European Funds said that Romania’s absorption of EU funds will reach 19 percent this year, after fresh reimbursement requests worth EUR 790 million in the transport operational program have been sent to the European Commission (EC), the executive arm of the EU.

EU funds minister Eugen Teodorovici reckons the recent unlock of payments in the transport program will drive up the overall absorption of EU money.

“Thus the amount of reimbursement requests through the seven operational programs can reach EUR 3.7 billion, a substantial advance that can help us cover the risk of an automatic reduction of EU funds,” said Teodorovici.

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Romania has reached an absorption rate of 16.62 percent in the operational program regarding human resources training (POS DRU).

The Regional Operational Program (ROP), which targets local authorities, posted the highest absorption rate of 33 percent. These funds are used primarily to improve the infrastructure in rural areas.

The EC unlocked payments in the POSDRU in February, while the ROP was unblocked in April, after the government solved issues related to funds mismanagement and fraud risk.

The EC has reimbursed around EUR 3 billion worth of EU funds for Romania, which is 15.3 percent of the allotted resources in the 2007-2013 period. 

Ovidiu Posirca