Ciprian Ciucu, after talks with Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan and the Minister of Finance: Emergency solutions for Thermal Energy and STB
On Sunday, Ciprian Ciucu reported to the Government the “extremely serious” financial situation of the Bucharest City Hall. He also discussed with Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan and the Minister of Finance, Alexandru Nazare, urgent measures to save Termoenergetica and ensure proper financing for the Capital starting in 2026.
Ciprian Ciucu, meeting with Prime Minister Bolojan and Minister Nazare PHOTO: FB
“I had this evening a working session at the Government with Mr. Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan and Mr. Minister of Finance, Alexandru Nazare. I informed them about the extremely serious financial situation in which Bucharest City Hall is and the causes (relating to recent history) that led us here”transmitted Ciprian Ciucu, the general mayor of the Capital.
Ciprian Ciucu explained that, in the last three years, PMB lost over 2 billion lei due to some government decisions:
- The reduction, in the years 2024 and 2025, of the amounts collected from the income tax that can be redistributed to local authorities, by eliminating some categories of income from the allocation formula (for example, income tax from pensions). “This money did NOT reach Bucharest, the Government used it for something else”, stated Ciucu.
- The allocation of lower PMB quotas compared to the sector municipalities, although the Capital has the responsibility of operating major public utility services, such as heating and public transport.
In the very short term, claims the mayor Ciprian Cicu, so that Termoenergetica does not become insolvent in January, the Government will create an additional space for a modest loan. We also discussed a mechanism whereby PMB takes over Elcen during the next year, but as soon as possible.
Ciucu stated that PMB's current debt to municipal companies exceeds 2.1 billion lei, an amount that roughly corresponds to the funds that have not reached the Capital due to political decisions made in the last three years.
“The bad part was that the reduction of the funds that returned to Bucharest overlapped with the accentuation of the budget holes of STB and Termoenergetica. Let me give you two figures to understand the scale of the disaster: the turnover of STB is about the same as the budget of Brașov, somewhere around 1.6 billion lei, and STB's debt to ANAF is about 1.4 billion lei. It seems incredible to me! I said yesterday that PMB's current debt is of over 2.1 billion lei (of PMB only to these companies plus others, I have not added their debts to their suppliers)”, revealed Cicú.
The general mayor of the capital claims that he reached this situation because of some political decisions made in the last three years.
“It is, roughly, the missing sum that has not reached the PMB due to some political decisions taken in the last three years by the governments that have been lost. Obviously, I will not just wait for solutions from the Government! Reforms will follow in Bucharest, don't have any doubts here! Now, my first objective is to put things in order!”, concluded Ciucu.
