The day of 800 million euros. The four milestones that the Government must meet today in order not to lose EU money / What it can do and what it hopes for from the European Commission
The deadline for meeting four milestones in the NRDP expires at midnight on Friday. What are the sums of money at stake for Romania and what else can the Government do today? At one stage the Executive has already assumed the loss: “nothing can be done”, said the spokeswoman of the Government.
The government had at least two years to meet the targets in the PNRR, but some milestones were not met at all, and others partially.
In total, four milestones are in question today, on the last day of the deadline offered by Brussels. Four milestones that are worth a total of 807 million euros. What are they?
- The milestone regarding the reduction of expenses with special pensions – 231 million euros
- The milestone regarding the appointment of a president and two vice-presidents at the Agency for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Performance of Public Enterprises (AMEPIP) – 330 million euros
- The milestone regarding the appointment of managers at state energy companies – 227 million euros
- The milestone regarding the appointment of members to the Boards of Directors of the National Road Investment Company (CNIR) and the National Road Infrastructure Administration Company (CNAIR) – 19 million euros
These milestones are part of Payment Request 3, which was sent to the Commission in September 2023. In October 2024, the European Commission carried out its assessment and found that some milestones had not been met, blocking payments until this spring.
In May 2025, the Commission granted another six months, until November 28, to meet the milestones. However, even in this extended term, the arrears were not fully recovered.
The government, however, hopes to get some money from the Special Pensions Milestone
Today, Prime Minister Bolojan is going to convene an extraordinary meeting of the Government in which to adopt the draft law that increases the retirement age of magistrates, the spokesperson of the Government, Ioana Dogioiu, announced yesterday. It is the project closely related to the milestone of 231 million euros, whose deadline was November 28.
The Romanian government now hopes to obtain a certain amount from the entire tranche of 231 million euros. He will use before the Commission, the argument that he did everything he could to adopt a project on reducing expenses, government sources told HotNews.
“It will be a negotiation process”
The spokeswoman of the Government also explained, on Thursday, at the end of the Government meeting, that today (Friday – no) the “procedure of hiring responsibility by adopting the project” begins.
Asked about the plan B of the Executive, so that Romania does not lose the money, the spokeswoman of the Government explained that “next is the 2 months of evaluation of the fulfillment of the benchmarks and criteria that tomorrow (no – today) will be communicated by the Ministry of European Funds”.
“Perhaps, during the evaluation, the law will enter into force. It will be a process of negotiation, of discussions with the European Commission”, Ioana Dogioiu also answered.
The initial project of the Bologna Government to modify the magistrates' pensions was rejected, a month ago, by the Constitutional Court, on the grounds that the Executive did not wait for the issuance of the CSM's opinion, be it negative or positive.
CSM, negative opinion on the project that increases the retirement age of magistrates. The President of the Council says that “the rulers who created this situation did not understand to apologize” / What's next
The second milestone, worth 330 million euros. What are the question marks?
On November 27, one day before the deadline, the Government finalized the selection for a president and two vice-presidents of the Agency for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Performance of Public Enterprises (AMEPIP). It is the milestone with the highest value – 330 million euros.
Even if, in theory, it is a fulfilled milestone, the European Commission may, during the evaluation, find non-conformities, government sources told HotNews.
This in the conditions where at least one of the three appointed to AMEPIP presents certain question marks, government sources also told HotNews.
One of the vice-presidents, Nicolae Bogdan Codruț Stănescu, was dismissed, in the spring of this year, from the position of general manager at the Society for the Administration of Energy Participations (SAPE), which he had held for six years.
The decision to dismiss him was made after a report of the Court of Accounts appeared which revealed a damage of over 72 million lei, during his mandate, after the purchase of some masks. The Court of Accounts notified the DNA, according to Europa Liberă.
Government spokeswoman: “I don't know how his lordship was named”
Asked by HotNews on Thursday about his appointment Bogdan Stănescu at AMEPIP, Ioana Dogioiu said that she cannot comment on his selection to lead the super-agency of state companies, as AMEPIP is also known.
“I don't know how his lordship was appointed, I have no idea. It was a selection procedure, I was not part of this independent selection procedure, I can't answer that question. I can't comment on a selection procedure.”
The milestone of 227 million euros. The Minister of Energy says that 90% of the amount can still be saved
Another milestone from which money will be lost is the one related to the appointment of managers at the state energy companies.
The Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan, claims that 90% of the 227 million euros allocated to this milestone can be saved, but it is not clear how many companies have not been appointed according to the commitments. More than 40 people had to be appointed, at 13 companies.
Forfeit amounts are calculated for each person who was not named.
The companies targeted by the European Commission, in terms of corporate management, are Hidroelectrica, Complexul Energetic Oltenia, SN Nuclearelectrica SA, Conpet, Romgaz, Oil Terminal, Electrocentrale Craiova SA, Midia Green Energy SA, Societatea de Administraione a Participations in Energie S., National Company for the Control of Boilers of Elevating Installations and Pressure Vessels (CNCIR), Eurotest and Radioactive Mineral Măgurele SA, Research Institute Scientific and Technological Engineering Mine Design on Lignite SA, Complexul Energetic Valea Jiului SA
Meanwhile, Eurotest and Radioactiv Mineral Măgurele SA were transferred from Energy to the State Assets Administration Authority.
Money lost due to the cancellation of the selection at Hidroelectrica
The only company with problems whose situation is known is Hidroelectrica, and in this case the Supervisory Board of Hidroelectrica decided, on Wednesday, to cancel the process of appointing a general director of the company.
The members of the Council decided that Mihai Aniței, who was for several years the general director of the Azomureș joint venture and Country Manager of the Swiss group Ameropa, with operations in dozens of countries, “does not fully align with the requirements associated with the position of CEO at this time”.
In second place, also on the short list, Radu-Ioan Constantin, engineer and economist, who has been working in Hidroelectrica since 2008, in management positions in the supply area, received the same verdict from the Supervisory Board: “he does not fully align with the requirements associated with the position of CEO at this time”.
Sources in the company told HotNews that the people selected by the independent evaluator were rejected because they were not politically acceptable.
Last week, the Supervisory Board also canceled the appointment of a financial director.
The surprising cancellation of the CEO of Hidroelectrica after winning the competition. Among those defeated was Dragoș Tănase, the former head of Roșia Montană Gold Corporation
At a milestone of 19 million euros “nothing can be done”, the Government admits
Regarding the appointments to the Boards of Directors of the National Road Investment Company (CNIR) and the National Road Infrastructure Administration Company (CNAIR), there are no more chances to recover the 19 million euros.
“With regard to the Board of Directors of CNAIR and CNIR, nothing can be done”, said Dogioiu.
Asked what was not done and why nothing can be done, Ioana Dogioiu replied that “I am not in a position to talk to you about responsibilities now. If there are, they will be determined, because there is no longer physical time for these procedures to be carried out until tomorrow.”
At this time, the Government cannot advance specific amounts that will be lost.
“There is no calculation yet, calculations are still being made from this point of view, which could be the penalty for these benchmarks, but in any case it is a penalty, not a complete failure to meet these benchmarks”, stated the spokesperson of the Government.
