The Minister of the Environment announces when the Rabla program will resume. Changes expected for the next few years

The Minister of Environment Diana Buzoianu stated, at Digi24, that the Rabla program for natural persons will be launched on September 1, as originally expected. On the other hand, Buzoianu appreciated that in the following years, the financing of the program should be rethought so as not to depend exclusively on the funds from the state budget.

“On the side of natural persons, the decision in the coalition is that this program will be launched on September 1, with 200 million lei,” said the Minister of the Environment.

The forests, a greater priority for the ministry

Regarding the other components of the Rabla program, Buzoianu said that the decision will be taken after the 2 budgetary measures package, which will be followed by the evaluation of the government programs will be followed.

The minister said that one of the PNRR milestones is the disposal of 250,000 old cars through Rabla, an objective that has already been achieved. Buzoianu was pronounced because, in the coming years, the Rabla program “have funds that do not necessarily depend on funds from the national budget.”

Thus, the financing could be obtained by the social fund for the climate, the minister exemplified.

She claimed that, in the near future, an evaluation of the objectives of the Ministry of Environment and the directions in which she wants to allocate the financial resources she has is required. She indicated that the priority could become the renderings. In 2026, a national forest plan will be completed, and depending on it will be established what the resources available for the Rabla program will be.

Through PNRR, Romania has committed to affore 26,000 hectares, of which it has only 9,000 in the last two years. At PNRR renegotiation with the European Commission, Brussels officials have accepted that the goal is 18,000 hectares by the middle of next year, but Buzoianu believes that a threshold of 23,000 hectares could be achieved.

The Rabla program was suspended on June 18, the day before it started, and the now budget is three times smaller than the one proposed in June. Initially, the budget announced for the first phase of the Rabla program was 610 million lei for the session of natural persons.

The Rabla program. Frequent changes but went forward

From 2005 until now, over one million old cars have been casable through Rabla programs and over 700,000 new cars were bought. The first Rabla program was held in 2005, the cancellation premium was then 3,000 lei and almost 15,000 cars were canceled.

The record year was 2010, when 190,000 old cars were disposed of and 62,000 new cars were bought. The budget was then 722 million lei and it was allowed to “combat” up to three vouchers, for the purchase of a new car. In that historical year for Rabla, the budget was almost four times older than a year before. The budget of the program then decreased four years in a row, so in 2014 it had reached only 140 million lei.

However, six years of growth followed, so in 2021, the total budget was 940 million lei and 50,000 new cars were bought.

For eight years in a row, the value of the cancellation premium for those who bought their car on petrol or diesel remained at 6,500 lei. The cars that can be quashed were the eight years oldest, while the 2022 can be eligible and the six years old.

The year 2014 was a reference because it first appeared the “electronic ticket” with which they addressed directly to the validated dealers. Over time, many more stages could be “checked” online.

The profile of the program has been changed a lot in the last five years, being useful especially for those who want to take full-electric or hybrid cars. In the first decade of existence of the program, Dacia was best selling, a mark that constantly had 30-35% of the total market for new cars, so it was logical for her to be a leader in Rabla.

In some years, the registration system was heavy, the file to be presented was very high, people had a lot to walk, and waiting times were huge, according to the users' descriptions. The 2025 edition did not announce an easy one in terms of documentation.

There were years in which the registration platform was blocked, problems being even in 2025, with the “branch” of the program that was designed for the purchase of tractors.

A resounding controversy was in 2017, when the program offered a subsidy of 10,000 euros for people who bought full-electric cars, the subsidy being among the largest in Europe. A new wave of critics came in 2021, when the best -selling electric car was Dacia Spring, a model produced in China. Critics said then that the Romanian state ends up supporting Chinese car production.

But many Romanians who would not have allowed an expensive electric car were able to take a Dacia Spring through the Rabla program, especially since the price was below 10,000 euros, including the subsidy. In December 2022, Spring became the first electric vehicle to find 10,000 customers in Romania.

In some editions, the vouchers became trading on the black market, being sold with amounts between 500 and 1,000 euros.