The trade unionists sent an open letter to Ilie Bolojan: The government ignores a legal source of income, while applying austerity measures to the population
The National Trade Union Bloc (NBS) accuses the Government of Romania of adopting harsh austerity measures on the population, while avoiding applying a legal mechanism that could bring important funds to the national economy.
Photo: Facebook/National Trade Union Block
In an open letter addressed to the president, the prime minister and the ministers, the NBS draws attention to the non-application of the Emergency Ordinance no. 124/2023, which provides for technological and industrial cooperation agreements within the acquisitions of military technique.
According to the NBS, while the government frequently announces the signing of new military acquisition contracts – with values that exceed the threshold of 10 million euros – there is no public information regarding the application of the industrial cooperation mechanism associated with them.
This mechanism, provided by GEO 124/2023, obliges the state to negotiate, before signing the contracts, a financial contribution from the supplier companies, between 20% and 100% of the value of the purchase, in the form of investments, jobs and technology transfer to the Romanian economy.
“The law clearly stipulates: at each contract, the Romanian Agency for Technological and Industrial Cooperation for Security and Defense (Arctis) – together with the Ministry of Economy, Digitization, Entrepreneurship and Tourism (Medat) and the Supreme Council of Defense of the Country (CSAT), at the proposal of the contracting authority – must ensure the conclusion of an agreement between 20% the contract. is mentioned in the open letter.
Unanswered questions so far
BNS publicly requests the following clarifications:
1. How many contracts for the purchase of military technique were concluded from the entry into force of GEO no. 124/2023?
2. In how many cases Arctis proposed CSAT and concluded technological and industrial cooperation agreements?
3. What amounts did, following these agreements, come back in the Romanian economy in the form of investments and technology transfers?
4. Were the military purchases announced in recent months evaluated? To what extent is it necessary, to protect the essential security interests of Romania, to conclude technological and industrial cooperation agreements for these acquisitions?
5. What implementation plans does Archis have in this regard and what control the Romanian state exercises – through the CSAT and the Government of Romania – on the fulfillment of this mechanism?
Critics to the government
In the absence of clear responses, the NBS accuses the government of promoting a double standard: while raising taxes, reducing scholarships for students and cutting posts in the public sector, avoids applying a law that could bring important income without directly affecting the population.
“The NBS believes that the Government of Romania adopts austerity measures for the population, while avoiding applying their own regulations meant to bring significant revenues to the state budget!”, says Dumitru Costin.
