How the Bucharest City Hall money is divided: 2.7 billion lei go to investments, the same amount goes to subsidies. What works are starting in the Capital

The budget of the Capital City Hall for 2026, estimated at 8.4 billion lei, was put into public debate. A third of the money is allocated to investment projects, and the largest amounts – 1 billion lei each – go to two mammoth projects: the modernization of the 50 km of tram lines and the modernization of the heating network.

• The public budget debate will take place on Friday, April 24, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. Then, the budget project proposed by mayor Ciprian Ciucu will be submitted to the General Council for approval. Here, it can undergo changes, through amendments made by political groups.

Mayor Ciprian Ciucu presented, in a post on Facebook, the way in which the money was divided in the draft budget and pointed out that, compared to last year, investment expenses have doubled.

“Broadly speaking, the local budget for this year looks like this, out of a total of 8.4 billion: the development section (investments) – 2.7 billion, that is 32%, the operation section – 5.7 billion, which results in 68%. Last year, in 2025, the executed budget (budget execution) was presented as follows: the development section (investments) – 0.96 billion lei, that is 16%, the operation section – 84% representing 4.9 billion lei”, wrote mayor Ciprian Ciucu, in a post on Facebook.

Mayor Ciucu's proposal for 2026 is that, of the 8.4 billion lei, 2.7 billion lei should go to investments, 2.7 billion lei to heating and public transport subsidies, and the rest to operating expenses.

7 million lei for the Cathedral of the Salvation of the Nation

From the investment chapter, the most money, 1 billion, goes to modernize the 50 km of tram lines, and another billion to modernize the heating network.

The proposal is to allocate 128 million lei for the continuation of the works to widen Prelungirea Ghencea Street, and 76 million lei for the expropriations necessary to widen Dimitrie Pompeiu Street.

As for the bike lanes, the proposal is to allocate almost 38 million lei.

For the Cathedral of the Salvation of the Nation, Ciucu proposes the allocation of 7 million lei.

According to the list of investments published by the Capital City Hall and analyzed by HotNews, the 2.7 billion lei go in large part to two mammoth projects: 1 billion lei for the modernization of the 50 km of tram line and 1 billion lei for the modernization of the heating network. Both projects are carried out with European money.

Of the remaining 700 million, the infrastructure project that receives the most money is the widening of Prelungirea Ghencea street. The proposal is to allocate 84 million lei for the continuation of work on the remaining sections and 44 million lei for the tram line on the Ghencea Extension, also part of the project. This results in a total of almost 130 million lei.

120 million lei are also allocated for the modernization of public lighting on several streets in Bucharest.

The widening of Dimitrie Pompeiu Street, a new project of the Capital City Hall, for which the bureaucratic steps have been completed so far, but the construction site has not started, receives 76 million lei out of 544 million lei, which is the total value of the investment. It is about the money for the expropriations necessary to start the works, the plan being that they will be completed this year, and the construction site will start the following year.

20 million for the Basarab Passage

The Basarab crossing will receive 20 million lei, is Ciprian Ciucu's proposal. The money is needed for repairs, as the passage has not been received for 15 years, so no maintenance work could be done until now. The mayor announced at the beginning of the year that he found a solution for these works to be done and they will be carried out from the summer until the end of the year.

Also in the transport chapter, Ciucu wants 100 million to pay for the 22 trolleybuses and 12 electric minibuses purchased by the municipality, plus 20 million lei for the modernization of the Berceni Depot.

For the collector channel Ghidigeni, Olteniței Cheile Turzi, Henri Coandă proposes the allocation of 85 million lei. This is part of the project to modernize the Glina treatment plant, and out of 500 million lei, which is the value of the project, 146 million lei were paid by the end of last year.

Where there are bike lanes

Ciucu wants to allocate around 37 million lei for the development of bicycle paths: 5.7 million lei for the completion of the works on the bicycle paths in the northern area of ​​the Capital and 32 million lei for the paths that would be built from Piața Victoriei on Bd. Iancu de Hunedoara – Șos. Stephen the Great – Sos. Mihai Bravu and Calea Victoriei – Bd. Regina Elisabeta – Bd. M. Kogălniceanu – Splaiul Independence – Bd. Libertății – Bd. Unirii – Bd. Decebal – Bd. Bessarabia.

For the intelligent traffic management system, the allocation proposal is 4.7 million lei, and for the continuation of the works on the utility networks in the ANL Henry Coandă district – 25 million lei.

23 million for the General Urban Plan

For the completion of the General Urban Plan, 23 million lei are allocated, basically the remaining payment from the contract of 46 million lei, for the realization of the Green Register – 10 million lei, 22 million lei for architecture and urban planning competitions.

For the rest, there are still small allocations for projects in various stages:

• 1.6 million lei for the block in Rahova that exploded in October 2025;
• 3 million lei for the modernization of the Bucur Maternity Hospital, out of the 260 million lei value of the project;
• 3 million for the Flamaropol Skating Rink from 250 million lei. Works worth 30 million lei were done;
• restoration of the Voivodeship Palace – 2.5 million from 76. 4 million lei of work was done.

In the budget, operating expenses include 255 million lei for compensation, in lawsuits that the Capital City Hall lost, and interest of 337 million lei, related to the loans taken.

“I wish that in the coming years we will end up with approx. 50% for development, but for this there must be real reforms: in STB, a company subordinate to the General Council (not to the mayor), with great efficiency problems and in Termoenergetica, a company with structural problems, largely due to the fact that we have a very high production cost at the level of Elcen, a company subordinate to the Ministry of Energy. We must also continue investing in the heating network to limit our own losses from the distribution network).If we took the subsidies out of the equation, we would already have 50% of the budget for investments”, Mayor Ciprian Ciucu also wrote on his Facebook page.

What money do subordinate institutions receive?

The total budget of the Capital City Hall, with subordinates, is 12.8 billion lei, of which the Capital City Hall has almost 8.5 billion lei, and the subordinates the rest.

The proposed allocations for subordinate institutions are:

• The Administration of the Public Domain of the Municipality of Bucharest – 140 million lei;
• Arts and urban events Bucharest – 68 million lei;
• Bucharest City Sports Club – 63 million lei;
• ASPA- 25 million lei;
• ALPAB – 66 million lei;
• Street Administration – 250 million lei;
• Municipal Administration for the Consolidation of Seismic Risk Buildings – 116 million lei;
• Hospital Administration – 720 million lei;
• Cemeteries Administration – 31 million lei;
• ARCUB – 15 million lei;
• CREART – 32 million lei;
• Product – 14 million lei;
• Local Police – 65 million lei;