Ilie Bolojan says that avoiding VAT growth was not possible: “We would have reached the suspension of European funds, because we did not correct our deficit”
Ilie Bolojan, at the meeting of the Parliament in which the censorship motions were submitted to dismiss the government led by him, September 7, 2025. Photo: Inquam Photos / George Călin
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan told Antena 3 CNN on Tuesday evening that a tax correction was impossible without a VAT increase, although President Nicușor Dan asked the government not to resort to this measure.
One night ago, the president of the country explained that, when the government was installed, “installed on this promise”-not to increase the VAT-a promise that it later violated.
“At the installation of this government, in the preliminary discussions, the president asked us, as far as possible, not to increase the VAT, in the correction measures that everyone agreed to take,” said Ilie Bolojan.
He claimed that the government “left this idea” in negotiations with the European Commission, but from “all the analyzes made and from all the proposals made to the Commission, it has been clear as possible, that VAT -increasing fiscal correction is not possible.”
“If we had not taken all these measures in July, we would have been in the situation where at the ecofin of that month we would have come to sanction Romania, in the situation of European funds, because we did not corrected our deficit. This we had to do it. When you are on a certain position, you make the decisions to be made,”
Also, sources from the ruling coalition told Hotnews on Tuesday that there are little chance that at the future coalition meeting, on Wednesday, the possible VAT increase for Horeca will be discussed. Most likely an increase in VAT for Horeca could take place from January next year, according to the same sources.
What Nicușor Dan says about VAT growth
“Did you understand why Ilie Bolojan refuses you? Does Ilie Bolojan annoy you with these refusals?”, Was one of the questions that Nicușor Dan answered on Monday, related to the fact that the prime minister was not increasing VAT.
“When we are in this position, there is no place for personal humors. If we talk about VAT, more than that, when the Government installed on this promise, and then returned to this promise … it was part of the understanding when the government was formed. Then the Government said: Only so.
This is not the first time that Nicușor Dan criticizes VAT growth. “I think it was possible to avoid this. The government made other calculations, so it remained,” said the president in early September.
