Political dispute on the money from the reserve fund. The mayor who organizes the “commune's day”: “We try to spend the money with a head”

PSD and PNL that govern together are argued in the territory on the money distributed to the town halls. PNL accuses the division on political criteria, the PSD responds that it has distributed to local communities, not to “peasants and penelists”. What the town halls do with the money.

Austerity or not, the parties go ahead photo: FB /Gabriel Dragnea

The allocation of 7,050 lei from the reserve fund available to the Olt County Council has heated the spirits between politicians. PNL Olt President Gigel Știrbu announced that he is doing the PSD Olt chief (who is also CJ Olt) criminal complaint because he would have distributed the amounts on political criteria. The head of the CJ shows that 95 of the 112 mayors in the county are of the PSD and statistically can only allocate the amounts to the mayors of the formation. While the party leaders are fighting in statements, the mayors are preparing for parties for some money.

“The money from the reserve fund is not the personal estate of the president of CJ Olt”

The allocation of money took place on Thursday, July 31, 2025, in the ordinary meeting of CJ Olt. The project was on the additional order, and at the vote there was no problem to pass, only at the end of the meeting a county councilor PNL accusing that again the money is allocated on political criteria. Subsequently, the head of PNL Olt, the deputy Gigel Ştirbu, announced, by a Facebook post, that he will submit a criminal complaint.

“The Olt County Council, by a decision initiated by the President Marius Oprescu, decided to allocate the funds from the budget reserve on political criteria, directing the exclusively financial support to the mayors led by the PSD, a deeply unfair practice that became a habit since 2016, the year in which Mr. Oprescu has taken over. The Olt County Council, Marius Oprescu, for the discretionary and preferential way in which he managed the funds available to the institution.“It must have legal consequences,” the deputy wrote.

“The County Council has the legal right to intervene where there is an emergency and real need”

The answer from the PSD Olt president did not leave too long. “False indignation and political attack devoid of legal basis ”, Marius Oprescu labeled the announcement of the PNL Olt chief.

“The truth is simple and clearly defined legally: the reserve fund is available to the County Council, which has the legal right to intervene where there is an emergency and real need, depending on the requests received and the administrative priorities of each community. In the recent case, the funds were assigned to 25 mayors, ie to local communities who need investments, not to pessimists or penelists. To speak of “discretionary allocation” or “political favoritism” is not only without reason, but also an attempt to hijack from the administrative reality: most of the requests come from PSD mayors because the overwhelming majority of the mayors in the county are PSD “, replied the head of CJ Olt, also on Facebook.

The head of CJ Olt also gave the statistics to date: out of the 112 mayors of Olt, 95 are PSD, 14 are PNL, two are gold and one USR. This on paper, because in fact some of the mayors and so few who have won on the PNL lists would have already concluded unwritten agreements with those who divide the money in Olt, this being, most likely, the reason why Corbu City Hall, won last year by a PNL candidate, who is among the 25, is not recognized.

However, the opportunity arose was missed, so the head of PSD Olt launched attacks on the head of the government.

“Today, when the PNL Prime Minister is breaking Romania, blocks investments and puts huge financial pressure on the mayors, to come to attack the Olt County Council – which is just trying to relieve the state and support the local communities – a toxic combination of nonsense, demagogy and hypocrisy, ” Oprescu wrote on Facebook.

Who are the great winners

Of the 7.5 million lei, 1.5 million arrived at the City Hall of Balș (PSD), and 5.5 million was divided between 24 mayors.

The largest amounts, half a million lei, arrived at the Valea Mare City Hall (PSD), respectively the Voineasa City Hall (PSD), the other communes being distributed the following amounts (expressed in thousands): Baldovinești 150; Bărăști 200; Bobicești 10o; Caului 150; Cezieni 250; Colonești 300; Corbu 300; Dobrețu 150; Găvănești 150; Ianca 200; Obârșia 200; Oboga 300; Brush 200; Sâmburești 200; Eyebrow 150; Stoenești 200; Stoicănești 300; Șerbănești 200; Tufeni 400; Verguleasa 200; Vitomirești 100; Foxes 150.

For what? According to the draft decision, “In order to ensure urgent, current and capital expenses of the administrative-territorial units in Olt County.”

And such “emergencies” expenses have all the town halls, even if not all received this time. Only that “from the little they have”, many allow themselves to allocate for “Commune Day” type parties.

“We try to tighten the belt a little”

In this situation is the Valea Mare City Hall, in which there will be a big show on August 9. According to the procurement site, the City Hall has already accepted the offer of an operator, Bambu concert music, of 70,000 lei, for renting scene and sound system, lase show, photographic services and youtube, but also for the stage to be brought several guests, among them Constantin Enceanu, Maria Constantin, Valentin Sanfira, Violeta Constantin, Violeta Constantin.

Mayor Gabriel Dragnea, PSD mayor at the first term, told “Adevărul” that he submitted to CJ Olt a well -founded address to receive the 500,000 lei, and this money is needed.

“I had operating expenses, government projects that had to be paid, because they were mostly co-financing, and these were the amounts. If it was according to the need we have, we needed much more money. In the operating expenses we also put the expenses with the VMI (n. Red.-Social assistants), with the personal workers … we have the order of the tens. (Money – n. Red.) They are not enough, but we have to deal with what we have. By the end of the year we did not make a calculation so well determined, but we try to spend the money with the head, to raise the belt and hope that we reach the end of the year ”, said the mayor.

How to reconcile the strap of belt with money spent on shows is simple. “The money for the commune's day has been allocated since the beginning of the year, the purchases have already been made”, said the mayor, who wanted to reveal how much everything will cost. “The commune's day costs us as much as it cost us last year. Find them on SEAP”Dragnea said.

In Voineasa, the 500,000 lei will be spent for the co-financing of the projects won, some ongoing, but also for the payment of the salaries of the personal assistants, said the mayor Liviu Anuța.

“We need money. We have projectswe have co-financing, we have the personal assistants we have 10% to pay, we have many projects in progress. You know that for the personal assistants we have a share, but if they cannot allocate money, we pay and then give us nine money. All this way, do you think that only in Voineasa is it? They give us the money on the installments, it does not give us all at the beginning of the year. It depends on how it is allocated ”, said the mayor.

The mayor of Corbu commune, Gabriel Eugen Ilinca, also at the first term, says he is still a PNL member. The town hall he runs, CJ Olt allocated the amount of 300,000 lei.

“There are so many needs in a commune … We do not talk that we have no money for the payment of the allowances with the disabilities. Only here are billions. I have not been left without money yet, but in this formula, until the end of the year I need money for those with disabilities. I had an investment on Anghel Saligny, the dispensary in rehabilitation, and half of the dispensary went on rehabilitation and about 200 square meters, a new building, no entered. And we had to do everything from our own funds. The rehabilitation on the inside was not so complex, so to speak, and I intervened with tiles and tiles inside, which was not caught in the PNR, and we went with the costs. There are investments made by the old administration. And there are things I have taken over. Water service with debt … We are not so good, We need money. We see by the end of the year, maybe we can get any rectification ”, said the mayor.

Actions of the “commune's day” type does not ask the problem, the mayor says. “We cannot throw ourselves at the commune's days when we have so many. Next year I would like to do, but from sponsorships, if we succeed ”, Ilinca said.