Prime Minister Bolojan's office wants to lease up to 19 SUV/pick-up cars for 3 years. The procedure used, the same as last year / Government's explanations

The Prime Minister's Chancellery, headed by Mihai Jurca, launched an open tender on Thursday for the supply through operational leasing of a maximum of 19 SUV/pick-up category N1 vehicles (vans – no) for a period of 3 years, without acquiring ownership of them, a contract estimated at over 2.1 million lei (before VAT), according to an announcement published in the Electronic Public Procurement System (SEAP).

The acquisition takes place in the context of the expiration of the operational leasing contract concluded last fall, through which 17 vans were leased, instead of cars, in order to comply with the provisions of the law.

“The object of the framework agreement is to supply vehicles through operational leasing services of a maximum of 19 vehicles category N1 – SUV/pick-up type body with fully closed double cabin, with mixed destination and closed architecture, for 36 months, without acquiring ownership of them.

Operational leasing is a variant in which the asset is used for a specific period, and at the end of the contract it is returned to the lessor (owner),” the auction announcement reads.

In other words, the 19 vehicles will be leased, not bought.

The deadline for receipt of tenders or requests to participate is February 23, 2026. The tender opening meeting will also take place on the same day.

Why are 17 cars not enough like last year?

The award documentation specifies the reasons why a maximum of 19 vehicles are requested, as follows:

“Currently, a number of 14 dignitaries work in the Chancellery, respectively 3 state secretaries and 10 state councilors, as well as the prime minister's cabinet director, with the rank of state secretary.

As a result, a number of at least 14 vehicles are required to be made available to them. At the same time, for the current activity of the office of the head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, a number of at least 1 vehicle is required. This vehicle must ensure the specific activities of the office.

Also, in order to carry out in good conditions the activity undertaken by the specialized structures at the level of the Chancellery, namely the activity of economic-administrative management, protocol and communication, presence at court deadlines, at the Treasury for making specific payments, transport to public institutions for obtaining certain approvals or working or inter-institutional meetings, etc., a number of at least 4 vehicles is required”.

HotNews.ro reported to the Government that last fall the Chancellery concluded an operational leasing contract for 17 new N1 Dacia Duster pick-up vehicles and announced that Ford was willing to make available, through a loan agreement (free of charge), two Puma electric cars, produced in Romania.

Mihai Jurca, the head of Bolojan's Chancellery, declared then that “the 17 rented cars will be used by the employees of the Chancellery and dignitaries and that their number is sufficient”.

Why are 17 cars no longer enough?

“The estimated need for cars for directors and dignitaries was calculated from a good start between a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 19 pieces. In the first phase it was 17 cars under operational lease and two Ford Puma electric cars that should have been taken on loan (free use) from Ford. This last loan contract was not concluded, which is why there was a shortage of two cars in these months. The new contract being for 3 years, we have to it covers the entire needs of the Chancellery”, the office of the spokesperson of the Government, Ioana Dogioiu, stated for HotNews.ro on Thursday.

Government officials remind in the answer sent Thursday evening to HotNews.ro that “the economy achieved by the Chancellery by concluding the operational leasing contract for the 17 cars reduced the monthly expenditure in this field from 840,000 lei to 84,000 lei”.

How can the Prime Minister's Office rent cars

The Chancellery explains in the auction book that it is asking for “category N1 of motor vehicles”, which is defined according to the Regulations on the type approval and issuance of the identity card of road vehicles, as well as the type approval of the products used in them – RNTR, which does not fall under the legislation (OG 34/2023 na) that prohibits the purchase, leasing or renting of cars.

According to these regulations, the van (cargo transport vehicle) is defined as: “the motor vehicle of category N1, N2 or N3, with at least 4 wheels and a maximum constructive speed greater than 25 km/h, designed and built for the transport of goods and which can tow a trailer”.

On the other hand, the car is defined as: “the motor vehicle of category M1, with at least 4 wheels and a maximum design speed of more than 25 km/h, designed and built for the transport of passengers and which, apart from the driver's seat, has at most 8 seats”.

In other words, the Chancellery used the same provisions as last fall to rent cars so that the law would be respected.

Mihai Jurca, in the scandal caused last year: Vans were rented, so as not to break the law

The head of the Chancellery, Mihai Jurca, was accused in October of last year by the Union of Employees of the Government Work Apparatus (SAALG) that he decided to cheat the law and illegally purchased 17 “pick-up” Duster cars.

Mihai Jurca admitted, in a press conference on October 3, that the law currently prohibits institutions from renting a certain type of vehicle. So, he stated, because the Government wanted to reduce expenses in this chapter, the prime minister's office decided to rent, for three months, cars classified as “utility”.

He also claimed that in this way “costs were 10 times lower”.

“We had a contract with RAAPPS for 30 cars with a driver, the costs were approximately 850,000 lei, so we reduced the costs by half, initially. During this whole period, we were looking for solutions to make the amount lower. We asked for a price offer both from RAAPPS to rent cars with or without a driver, and from Ford and Dacia, two Romanian manufacturers. The offers from RAAPPS were 120,000 lei monthly, and the offer from Dacia was 80,000 lei per month. In the discussions with those from Ford, we agreed that two cars would be allocated with a free loan agreement, to be used by colleagues from the Chancellery”, explained, at that time, how the institution ended up renting the 17 cars.

The contract was obtained through direct purchase, and the company offering the cars is “IFN RCI Leasing Romania IFN SA”, according to the data on SEAP.

The direct purchase data available on SEAP can be seen HERE.

Jurca said that he does not know the manager of the company. According to the specifications, the cars must be new, unused and of a color “as dark as possible”.