The General Mayor of the Capital Ciprian Ciucu seems to have the determination of Ilie Bolojan in assuming the position. Like Bolojan in the governing coalition, Ciucu must negotiate each project with the councilors.
A dilapidated building in the center of Bucharest
Ciprian Ciucu does not have a majority in the General Council, with PSD and AUR councilors blocking many of the projects for a less polluted, more functional, less indebted, less dilapidated metropolis – almost 900 buildings are classified as seismic risk classes one and two.
Municipal companies have accumulated debts of 3 billion lei over the years, a legacy for which the former mayors are also responsible. Some of them were unable to watch how public money was wasted or interested in combinations with the heads of municipal companies.
Bucharest without hot water
About Societatea de Transport Bucharest (STB), Ciprian Ciucu recently wrote on Facebook that “STB's turnover 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!”
Not only the transport company is on the brink of bankruptcy, but also Termoenergetica, the company that has debts to ELCEN (Societetea Comercială Electrocentrale Bucharest) of 1.4 billion lei. The insolvency of Termoelectrica automatically leads to the insolvency of ELCEN, explained Ciprian Ciucu, which would be a disaster for the people of Bucharest.
And this winter, a large part of the Capital's inhabitants did not have hot water and heat at optimal parameters, hundreds of thousands of homes being almost unheated. This is because in 36 years it was only possible to partially replace the 1,000 kilometers of heating networks that Bucharest has.
Precisely in this state of affairs, the PSD councilors of the General Council of the Capital are threatening to go on strike because a project is not on the agenda so that Bucharest residents who have been sitting all winter with the radiators turned off, will no longer pay their bills. Unfortunately, even today it has not been legislated for the beneficiary to conclude a contract with the heating agent and hot water supplier so that he can be held responsible if he does not respect his commitment. Regarding the way PSD councilors understood the disastrous situation in Bucharest, Mayor Ciucu stated that “the objective was to justify a blockade in the General Council, a blockade of this city, because of which the people of Bucharest will suffer”.
Pollution should be a priority
Three quarters of Bucharest residents say that Romania is heading in the wrong direction, according to a CURS survey conducted in February. The citizens of Bucharest believe that the main problems that should be solved by the Capital City Hall are traffic and congestion (24%), taxes and fees (16%), the problem of hot water and heating (14%), cleanliness, sanitation and the medical system (each 10%) and pollution – 7%.
It is an unknown why Bucharest residents do not indicate pollution among the major priorities that the Capital City Hall should solve.
According to the “State of the environment in Bucharest” report, carried out by the Bucharest Community Foundation in 2025, cited by Mediafax, road traffic is the main source of pollution, and urban nature is far below European Union standards.
Almost 80% of the Capital's surface is covered by asphalt and constructions, and the number of trees per inhabitant is three times lower than the EU recommendation.
Only a little over half of the waste is treated, the rest being stored in pits or garbage piles that appeared overnight, some of them only a few meters from homes.
In Bucharest, more than one million trees would be needed
Tens of thousands of trees have been cut so far across the entire surface of the Capital, the fine for each being a modest one, 50 lei. Only last year, the legislation was amended, the fine for an illegally cut tree being 5,000 lei. On the other hand, due to the indifference of the decision-makers from the Public Domain Administration (ADP) and from the six sector town halls of Bucharest, tree grooming is not done on time or not at all, so storms knock down thousands of trees every year.
The president of the Eco-Civic Foundation, Dan Trifu, said, according to Agerpres, that more than one million alignment trees would be needed in Bucharest, given that such plantations stop 40-60% of atmospheric emissions and noise levels. Only the former mayor of Sector 6 Ciprian Ciucu, currently the general mayor of the Capital, planted tens of thousands of trees during his mandate, arranged parks and green spaces and planted perennial exotic flowers.
George Arun – DW
