Liberal Hubert Thuma, a new attack on Ilie Bolojan and Ciprian Ciucu: “I am also considering suspending the issuance of building permits in Ilfov”

The president of the Ilfov County Council, Hubert Thuma, launched a new attack on Sunday evening against the general mayor of the capital, Ciprian Ciucu, and the prime minister, Ilie Bolojan, in the context of disputes regarding the financing of metropolitan transport and the distribution of income tax. Thuma claims that Ilfovul is financially disadvantaged in relation to Bucharest and warns that he is considering “firm measures”, including the suspension of the issuance of building permits in the county.

“The people of Ilfov are not second-class citizens. Ilfov does not ask for privileges. It asks for fairness, balance and respect in a real Bucharest-Ilfov partnership. Metropolitan transport is not a fad nor a “handout”, wrote Thuma in a post on Facebook.

“I can't keep silent after the latest statements of the general mayor of the Capital. Last week, at the meeting with the leaders of the political groups in the General Council, he complained that Ilfovul “receives money” from Bucharest for metropolitan transport (with reference to the 230 million STB expenses) and blamed the “times” and “complicity” of the current president of Romania, Nicușor Dan, former general mayor of the Capital”, continued the head of the CJ Ilfov.

Request to the Government: 5% of the income tax collected in Bucharest

According to him, the Ilfov County Council sent an address to the Ministry of Finance, the Government and the General City Hall, requesting that 5% of the income tax estimated to be collected at the level of Bucharest Municipality be distributed to Ilfov County, Thuma announced.

“The arguments are strong and simple to understand by any person of good faith. In documents, in Ilfov, we are 540,000. In reality, we exceed one million inhabitants. People who need roads, schools, hospitals, water and sewer, public transport and social services: Many companies actually operate in Ilfov, but they have their headquarters in Bucharest, and the money is accounted for there”, he stated.

Thuma says that almost 130,000 Ilfov residents who officially live in the county pay income tax in Bucharest, which would mean approximately 1.2 billion lei. He claims that, compared to the actual number of inhabitants, the amount could reach almost 3 billion lei.

President CJ Ilfov also stated that the large taxpayers in Ilfov paid VAT of over 1.3 billion euros to the state budget, but approximately 900,000 euros would have returned to the Ilfov County Council.

Another point invoked by the leader of the CJ Ilfov concerns the management of waste: “In Ilfov this year approximately 1 million tons of waste from Bucharest will be stored”, said Thuma.

“I am also taking into account the measure of suspending the issuance of building permits”

In his message, Thuma warned that, if the Bucharest-Ilfov relationship does not “settle correctly financially and administratively”, he is considering “firm measures”.

“After the garbage episode, I am also considering the measure of suspending the issuance of building permits in Ilfov, until the relationship between Bucharest and Ilfov is properly settled financially and administratively. I know very well what that would mean: huge pressure on the housing market, on economic development, on service infrastructure and on people's mobility. Bucharest would immediately feel the effects because Ilfov has become the capital's development valve: housing, logistics, warehouses, services, power work. If this valve closes, the blockages move back to Bucharest. Which translates into more congestion, even higher prices, and more suffocating traffic. This proves, once again, that Bucharest and Ilfov must be managed together, not against each other,” argued Hubert Thuma.

“And I say something else, with all responsibility: instead of doing administration, we ended up in disputes that I didn't want. We have a prime minister, general mayor and president CJ Ilfov from PNL – the party that had the slogan “Modernize Romania”. We should modernize, not accuse ourselves”, Hubert Thuma said.

He specified that he asked Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan for a solution regarding the allocation of a share of the income tax collected in Bucharest to Ilfov.

“I told Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan clearly: I am fighting for Ilfov and it is perfectly legitimate for our county to receive a share of the IVG collected in Bucharest, because Ilfov supports the Capital daily through people, economy and infrastructure. His lordship promised an applied discussion, with me and the general mayor of the Capital. Unfortunately, this discussion did not take place,” accused Thuma.

Open conflict in the PNL

Leader of the anti-Bolojan faction of the PNL, Thuma accused Ilie Bolojan, at the beginning of the month, of “USR-izing” the party and that he would have deliberately made the liberal candidates vulnerable in the 2024 and 2025 presidential elections.

Thuma also said that Bolojan was part of a plan that made the presidential candidates Ciucă and Antonescu vulnerable, in turn. More precisely, Thuma claims that the polls prior to the 2024 presidential elections showed that Nicolae Ciucă could not win the electoral race, so it was proposed to Ilie Bolojan to run. However, he not only did not want to, but also made unreasonable proposals for the PNL. Then, in the presidential elections of 2025, Bolojan did not publicly deny for months, Thuma reproaches him, that he will be the PNL candidate. All this was premeditated, Thuma claims.

Several PNL leaders defended Ilie Bolojan.